Turf Seed forging ahead with naturally Roundup resistant turf

Golf Course News, Jul 2002 by Overbeck, Andrew

Editorial Focus: Turf & Seed

HUBBARD, Ore. - While it continues to work on transgenic Roundup ready turfgrass, Pure Seed Testing, Turf Seed's research corporation, is also pressing forward with its decade-- long effort to develop naturally Roundup resistant turfgrass.

"Ten years ago I asked the marketing guys what they would like to see in the future and they said herbicide resistant grasses," said Pure Seed Testing president Crystal Rose-Fricker. "I decided to start work on Roundup because it was the most accepted herbicide and most usable to kill grassy weeds like Poa annua."

Rose-Fricker has already developed Aurora Gold hard fescue, and Pure Gold and Tomahawk RT tall fescues that tolerate higher than usual rates of Roundup. All three varieties are currently on the market, but cannot be labeled as Roundup resistant until trial work with Monsanto is completed. That could be wrapped up as early as the end of this summer.

"The tricky thing is thatyou can kill these with high rates of Roundup. So we cannot call them Roundup ready," said Rose-- Fricker. "But we have been able to kill Poa out of them with four and eight ounce per acre rates and Rutgers University has done trials that show that Aurora Gold can take 16 ounces per acre."

Rose-Fricker is also working to make other species such as creeping bentgrass and ryegrass naturally Roundup resistant.

"We have screened some Penn bents and creeping bents," she said. "I have something that is close, but I have to do more turf testing to see how it performs in turf."

Another challenge facing the program are the more powerful Roundup formulations that have hit the market since it went off patent

"It has become hotter and it is trickier to handle because the strength has changed," Rose-- Fricker said. "We are doing studies now on different formulations from Monsanto."

LESS CONTAMINATION RISK

While Rose-Fricker said genetically altered turfgrass can tolerate any level of Roundup, the natural option reduces the risk of cross contamination.

"We have done out crossing studies but because of the genetics involved, it is not a single dominant gene like you have with transgenic varieties. It can't just outcross with another variety and make it resistant," she said.

According to Rose-Fricker, naturally resistant bentgrass and ryegrass could make it to production in two years. On the transgenic side, Turf Seed's HybriGene division is still testing transgenic Roundup ready bentgrass. However, in order to beat the contamination odds, it is working with malesterile lines.

'That is more difficult," said Rose-- Fricker, "but we think it is the only way to go with gene stewardship issues. We have plants right now that we are waiting to verify with genetic tests. We could know something this summer."