Sustainable Use of Genetic Diversity in Forage and Turf Breeding

This book is a collection of papers presented at the 2009 meeting of the Fodder Crops and Amenity grasses section of Eucarpia. It provides a unique source of information on the most recent results on genetic diversity and breeding in forage crops and turf species from Europe and overseas. It is organised in five sections. The first section is devoted to genetic resources which are the source of diversity for breeding but also a source of information for a better preservation of diversity through biogeography approaches. The second section focuses on changes which may occur in grassland and turf swards. These swards are plant communities which are likely to experience species and genetic changes. Population genetics provides keys to understand these changes in order to take them into account during breeding and sward management. The third section documents the genetic gains achieved during breeding while the fourth one gives a detailed presentation of the results and potential of molecular biology to better use the genetic diversity. Eventually, the fifth section investigates the potential of new structures of varieties either exploiting the heterosis or the interspecific hybridization. Front Matter....Pages i-xxxii Front Matter....Pages 1-1 Grasslands and Forage Crops in France: Context and Stakes. Consequences for Breeding....Pages 3-13 Front Matter....Pages 15-15 A State of the Art of Germplasm Collections for Forage and Turf Species....Pages 17-28 Empirical Niche Modelling of the Spontaneous Diversity of Forage and Turf Species to Improve Collection and Ex Situ Conservation....Pages 29-40 The Genetic Diversity of Fine-Leaved Fescue ( Festuca L.) Species in Lithuania....Pages 41-45 Plant Collection in Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan for Forage Improvement in Australia....Pages 47-59 Effect of Light Quality and Quantity on Leaf Growth in Lolium perenne L.....Pages 61-65 Genetic Variation in Lowland Switchgrass ( Panicum virgatum L.)....Pages 67-71 Morphological and Molecular Diversity of Branching in Red Clover ( Trifolium pratense )....Pages 73-77 Genotypic Differences in Symbiotic N 2 Fixation of Some Alfalfa ( Medicago sativa L.) Genotypes....Pages 79-84 Physiological and Genetic Diversity in Rhizobium sullae from Morocco....Pages 85-88 Genetic Diversity in Tall Fescue Using AFLP Markers....Pages 89-94 What are the Cellular Components Underlying the Genetic Diversity of Leaf Growth in Lolium perenne L.?....Pages 95-100 Evaluation and Utilization of Morphological Variation in a Medicago truncatula Core Collection....Pages 101-105 Genetic Diversity in a Collection of Lucerne Populations from the Mediterranean Basin Evaluated by SSR Markers....Pages 107-112 Drought Survival of Some Perennial Grasses in Moroccan Rainfed Conditions: Agronomic Traits....Pages 113-118 Drought Survival of Some Perennial Grasses in Moroccan Rainfed Conditions: Eco-physiological Traits....Pages 119-126 Forage and Seed Yield Components in Four French Landraces of Grass Pea ( Lathyrus sativus L.)....Pages 127-130 Development of Melilotus siculus – A New Salt and Waterlogging-tolerant Annual Fodder Legume Species for Mediterranean-type Climates....Pages 131-135 Domestication of New Mediterranean Annual Pasture Legumes....Pages 137-141 The Population Genetic Structure of Diploid Medicago sativa L. Germplasm....Pages 143-148 Front Matter....Pages 15-15 Characterization and Preliminary Evaluation of Hedysarum coronarium L. Ecotypes in Mediterranean Environment....Pages 149-153 Phenotypic Assessment of Variability in Tillering and Early Development in Ryegrass ( Lolium spp.)....Pages 155-160 Agronomic Evaluation of Moroccan Ecotypes of Tall Fescue....Pages 161-166 The Czech Core Collection of Trifolium repens L.....Pages 167-172 Towards an Enhanced Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources in Grass Breeding by Characterization and Evaluation Trials....Pages 173-180 Front Matter....Pages 181-181 Ecological and Population Genetic Concepts for Creating New Varieties....Pages 183-194 Selection of Spaced Plants of Perennial Ryegrass in Association with White Clover....Pages 195-198 Determination of Botanical Composition in Multispecies Forage Mixtures by Near Infrared Reflectance Spectroscopy....Pages 199-203 Investigating the Competition for Water and the Depth of Water Extraction in Multispecies Grasslands Using 18 O Natural Abundance....Pages 205-209 Botanical and Genetic Change in Grass-clover Based Systems....Pages 211-216 Plasticity Versus Selection in Morphological Evolution of Populations. A Case Study of Lolium perenne L. Mini-swards....Pages 217-222 The Contribution of Hybrid Ryegrass ( Lolium x hybridum Hausskn) to Dry Matter Yield in Mixtures with Perennial Ryegrass....Pages 223-226 Characterisation of Variation in Condensed Tannin Levels and Persistence in Lotus spp.....Pages 227-231 Test and Selection of Festuca/Lolium Specific Markers for Festulolium Genetic Investigations....Pages 233-238 Forage Production of Grasslands Composed by One, Two or Three Varieties of Perennial Ryegrass....Pages 239-244 Front Matter....Pages 245-245 Genetic Gain in Agronomic Value of Forage Crops and Turf: A Review....Pages 247-260 Review of the Protocols Used for Assessment of DUS and VCU in Europe – Perspectives....Pages 261-275 Modelling Adaptive Responses Across Agricultural Environments as a Prerequisite for Identifying Adaptive Traits and Plant Ideotypes....Pages 277-282 Evaluation of Drought Tolerance Variability in Mediterranean Alfalfa Cultivars in the Field Under Moroccan Conditions....Pages 283-287 Field Resistance of Festuca Rubra Varieties to Red Thread ( Laetisaria Fuciformis )....Pages 289-293 Front Matter....Pages 245-245 Change in Agronomic Performance of Lolium perenne and Lolium multiflorum Varieties in the Past 40 Years Based on Data from Belgian VCU Trials....Pages 295-300 Impact of Four Decades of Breeding on Molecular Differentiation Between Forage and Turf Cultivars of Lolium Perenne ....Pages 301-305 Chemical Composition of the First Cut of Forage Ryegrass ( Lolium ) Species....Pages 307-311 Variability and Correlative Relations of Important Traits for Red Clover ( Trifolium pratense L.) Half Sib progenies....Pages 313-318 Genetic Diversity Within and Among Alfalfa Varieties for Some Traits....Pages 319-324 Genetic Improvement in Ryegrass ( Lolium perenne ) from Turf and Forage Breeding Over the Four Past Decades....Pages 325-330 The EUCARPIA Multi-Site Rust Evaluation – Results 2007....Pages 331-340 Dry Matter Production and Nutritive Value of Perennial Ryegrass Cultivars Collection....Pages 341-346 Variability and Correlation Between the Seed Yield, Seed Yield Components and Quality of Alfalfa Seed....Pages 347-352 Influence of Forage Species, Cultivar and Cut on Lipid Metabolism During the Ensiling Process....Pages 353-357 Variability of the Rumen Escape Protein and Fatty Acid Composition of Grass and Clover Species and Cultivars....Pages 359-364 Comparison of Different Low-Input Lignocellulosic Crops as Feedstock for Bio-ethanol Production....Pages 365-368 Occurrence of Colletotrichum trifolii (Bain et Essary), the Inducer of Alfalfa Anthracnose in Serbia....Pages 369-374 Resistance of Red Clover to Broad Spectrum of Sclerotinia trifoliorum ....Pages 375-380 Front Matter....Pages 381-381 Marker-assisted Selection in Forage Crops and Turf: A Review....Pages 383-390 Allelic Diversity for Candidate Genes and Association Studies: Methods and Results....Pages 391-396 Polyploidization and Gene Expression in Medicago sativa ....Pages 397-401 Characterization of Dehydrin Variants Linked to Freezing Tolerance in Alfalfa at the DNA and Post-transcriptional Levels....Pages 403-407 The Complete Chloroplast Genome Sequence of Perennial Ryegrass ( Lolium perenne L.) Reveals Useful Polymorphisms Among European Ecotypes....Pages 409-413 Exploring the Potential for Translational Genomics Approaches in Forage Legumes: Regions of Highly Conserved Microsynteny Between White Clover and Medicago truncatula Revealed by BAC Sequencing....Pages 415-419 Front Matter....Pages 381-381 Plant Transcription Factors as Novel Molecular Markers for Legumes....Pages 421-425 From a Model to a Crop Species: Constans is Involved in Aerial Morphogenesis of Lucerne....Pages 427-431 QTL for Water Use Efficiency in Alfalfa....Pages 433-436 QTL Mapping of Aluminum Tolerance in Tetraploid Alfalfa....Pages 437-442 DArTFest – A Platform for High-Throughput Genome Profiling Within the Festuca – Lolium Complex....Pages 443-448 Vegetative Plant Height QTLs in Elite Perennial Ryegrass Material....Pages 449-454 Genotyping Unknown Genomic Terrain in Complex Plant Genomes....Pages 455-459 Fine Mapping of Quantitative Trait Loci for Biomass Yield in Perennial Ryegrass....Pages 461-464 Testing a QTL Index for Marker Selection of Water-Soluble Carbohydrate Content in Perennial Ryegrass....Pages 465-469 Dissecting Festulolium Chromosome 3 to Locate Rooting and Drought Resistance Traits....Pages 471-477 Functional Analysis of Genes Involved in Cell Wall Biosynthesis of the Model Species Brachypodium distachyon to Improve Saccharification....Pages 479-482 Identification of Genes Induced in Lolium multiflorum by Bacterial Wilt Infection....Pages 483-487 Identification of QTLs Associated with Morphological and Agronomic Traits in White Clover ( Trifolium repens L.)....Pages 489-492 Front Matter....Pages 493-493 Festulolium Hybrids: Results, Limits and Prospects....Pages 495-507 Creation of Heterotic Groups and Hybrid Varieties....Pages 509-518 Enhancing the Adaptation to Italian Environments of Egyptian Lucerne Germplasm for Exploitation as a Component of Free-hybrids....Pages 519-524 F12 Performance of Tetraploid Perennial Ryegrass on the Basis of the Composition of a Synthetic Variety....Pages 525-528 Seed Yield of New Festulolium Varieties Bred from F. Arundinacea Var. Glaucescens ....Pages 529-534 Production of Self-Fertile Interspecific Hybrids Between Lolium temulentum × Lolium multiflorum ....Pages 535-538 Introgression of Novel Traits into White Clover ( Trifolium repens L.) from Related Trifolium Species....Pages 539-543 Front Matter....Pages 493-493 Studies on the Expression of Exogenous CBF 4 Gene in Transgenic Wheatgrass....Pages 545-550 Heterotic Response from a Diallel Analysis between Alfalfa Cultivars of Different Geographic Origin....Pages 551-556 Using Bulk-Hybrids for Breeding Adapted Genotypes of Subterranean Clover....Pages 557-562 Fiber Content and Plant Development in Festulolium ....Pages 563-568 Identification of Heterotic Patterns in Perennial Ryegrass....Pages 569-572 Grassland produces feed for livestock, improves soil fertility and structure, protects water resources and may contribute to climate change mitigation through carbon storage and to biodiversity preservation. It simultaneously maintains sustainable economic outputs for farmers and provides ecosystem services. Turf similarly c- siderably contributes to our environment by adding beauty to our surroundings, providing a safe playing surface for sports and recreation. The species diversity present in most grasslands and turfs is a functional div- sity contributing to the previously mentioned agronomic and environmental bene?ts. The species belong to different functional groups and the adequate species com- sition may maximise the agronomic performance through a higher production and a better quality and the environmental bene?ts through symbiotic nitrogen ?xation or sources of pollen and nectar to pollinators. In a given grassland or turf, the genetic diversity available in each variety contributes to this economic and environmental performance, but also to the stability of these performances including the stability of the resistance against pathogens and pests. Natural grasslands share many species with the sown swards. They may be regarded as favourable sites for in situ preservation of genetic diversity as well as valuable sources of diversity for breeding.