|
December 17, 2004
By Sharon Omahen,
Georgia Faces
University of Georgia
Turf scientists at the
University of Georgia are breeding new varieties of centipede
grass using germ plasm collected from the grass's homeland,
China.
In 1999, Wayne Hanna, a
researcher with the UGA College of Agricultural and
Environmental Sciences, spent 23 days in the most rural areas of
China collecting centipede samples.
Earl Elsner, former director of
the Georgia Seed Development Commission, accompanied Hanna.
Their trip was funded by a $50,000 grant from The Turfgrass
Group and Patten Seed Company.
Trip
planned before doors closed
"We had been breeding new
centipede varieties, but we needed more germ plasm to build
from," he said. "When countries began having restrictions for
plant collection, I knew I'd better hurry up and get over there
before it became impossible to do so."
Since the collection trip five
years ago, Hanna has used the germ plasm to develop two new
experimental varieties, a winter-hardy centipede and a
shade-tolerant centipede.
The shade-tolerant variety,
which can withstand 40-percent continuous shade, should be
available to the public in three to five years.
Centipede grass first came to
the United States in 1918, Hanna said. It's known for its
ability to grow on sandy and poor soils. "It will grow where
very little else will grow," Hanna said.
While in China, Hanna relied
heavily on advice from the local people.
"We flew into cities in
southern China, and for each collection trip we would work our
way by car 50 to 100 miles in each direction from the city," he
said. "We'd stop and talk to the locals and follow their
directions through the rice patties."
Buffalos
made search challenging
|
Even though centipede is
native to China, it was a chore for the researchers to
find samples.
"The buffalo eat the centipede seed heads down. So we
had to search for samples under small trees, in thorny
bushes and on cliffs where they can't reach," he said.
"We were able to find it along streambanks and trails
and in rice patty levees where buffalo walk. Centipede
grass was scattered all over China by the buffalos."
The researchers
targeted collection sites in shady areas and along the
coastal salt marshes. "These samples can be used to
breed new varieties with shade and drought tolerance,"
Hanna said.
Each night Hanna turned
his hotel room into a makeshift lab. He dried the grass
samples on the lampshade, threshed the grass and careful
placed the samples in labeled collection bags. |
 |
|
A
University of Georgia turfgrass breeder traveled to
China to collect germplasm for new centipede grass
varieties. His biggest obstacle was the buffalo that
feed on the grass' seedheads. |
These collection bags were
later inspected at the airport, taken to Washington, D.C., and
returned to Hanna at his UGA lab in Tifton, Ga.
Germplasm
now available to all scientists
The UGA research team collected
centipede samples from 53 sites in China. They were helped on
the trip by Nanjiang Botanical Gardens researcher Jianxiu Liu,
with whom they shared the collected samples.
"We now have germ plasm for our
research and for the (U.S. Department of Agriculture) national
seed bank," Hanna said. "And we have the Chinese people to thank
for the success of our trip. They were very warm, cordial and
friendly.
"Earl (Elsner) taught our hosts
to say 'goober' in English because all the meals included fried
peanuts," Hanna said. "And they served us the best-tasting fried
peanuts I've ever had." |
