Callus Irradiation Is an Effective Tool for Creating New Seashore Paspalum Germplasm for Stress Tolerance

Seashore paspalum (Paspalum vaginatum Swartz) is a perennial warm-season turfgrass which known for its superb salinity tolerance. Compared to bermudagrass, seashore exhibited the adverse character of faster vertical growth, wider leaf, weak cold-, drought- and disease-resistance. In this study, we aimed improve these unfavorable traits through strategy callus irradiation. The results showed that 2108 regenerated plants were obtained following method calluses irradiated by 60Co-γ rays (dose: 60 Gy, dose rate: 1 Gy/min). Morphological measured combining with cluster analysis on select mutant lines short leaves (A24 A82) thin (A24, A83, A120) as well dwarfism (B73, B28, B3, A29, B74). addition, found various characters such greenish leaf sheath (A69 A71), soft (B77, B17, B110), strong erectness (B5 B9) under continuous observation. Through comprehensive tolerance index survive rate, relative water content, electrolyte leakage, MDA content; photochemical efficiency wilting coefficient, three drought-tolerant (A55, B72, B44) one cold-tolerant line (B59) screened. This research proved irradiation an effective way create new germplasm, provides valuable materials accelerating breeding process further excavating molecular regulatory mechanisms in turfgrass.