In order to improve high persistence and forage quality, through selection of various superior parental varieties for breeding and synthesis of them with new lines, there are ongoing worldwide studies aiming to enhance the quality of tall fescue through a traditional breeding method by selection and hybridization. A new tall fescue variety (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.), named Greenmaster3ho, was developed by the National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration in Korea from 2010 to 2014. For synthetic seed production of this new variety, five superior clones, 09XFa02, 09XFa03, 09XFa11, 09XFa13, and 09XFa14 were selected and polycrossed. The agronomic growth characteristics and forage production capability of the seeds were studied at Cheonan from 2010, and regional trials were conducted in Cheonan, Hoengseong, Jeju, and Jinju from 2012 to 2014. Greenmaster3ho showed enhanced disease resistance, persistence, and regrowth ability as compared to Fawn. The dry matter yield of Greenmaster 2 was 29% higher (15,119 kg/ha) than that of Fawn. However, the nutritive value of both varieties was similar. This study developed a new tall fescue variety with excellent environmental adaptability, aiming to make a contribution to the vitalization of the Korean grassland industry.

Tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) is an important cool season forage plant that is not well suited to extreme heat, salts, or heavy metals. To develop transgenic tall fescue plants with enhanced tolerance to abiotic stress, we introduced a MsHsp23 gene expression vector construct through Agrobacterium-mediated transformation. Integration and expression of the transgene were confirmed by PCR, northern blot, and western blot analyses. Under normal growth conditions, there was no significant difference in the growth of the transgenic plants and the non-transgenic controls. However, when exposed to various stresses such as salt or arsenic, transgenic plants showed a significantly lower accumulation of hydrogen peroxide and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances than control plants. We speculate that the high levels of MsHsp23 proteins in the transgenic plants protect leaves from oxidative damage through chaperon and antioxidant activities. These results suggest that MsHsp23 confers abiotic stress tolerance in transgenic tall fescue and may be useful in developing stress tolerance in other crops. Compared with traditional plant breeding, genetic engineering provides a relatively fast and precise means of achieving improved stress tolerance of forage crops. Development of forage crops that are more tolerant to various abiotic stresses could lead to the use of more new lands for cultivation.

Most forage crops growing under field conditions are often being exposed to various environmental stresses such as drought, freezing, high temperature, waterlogging and climate change. A combination of grass breeding approaches will likely be needed to improve significantly the environmental stresses tolerance of forage crops in the field. Attempts have been taken by grass breeders to develop tolerant varieties of different crops for environmental stress. A new tall fescue variety (Festuca arundinacea Schreb.) named ‘Purumi’ was developed by the National Institute of Animal Science, Rural Development Administration from 1999 to 2007. For synthetic seed production of this new variety, 5 superior clones, EFa9108, EFa0010, EFa0020, EFa0108, and EFa0202 were selected and polycrossed. The agronomic growth characteristics and forage production capability of the seeds were studied at Cheonan from 2004 to 2005, and regional trials were conducted in Cheonan, Pyungchang, Jeju, and Jinju from 2008 to 2010. ‘Purumi’ showed enhanced winter hardiness, disease resistance, and regrowth ability as compared to ‘Fawn’. The dry matter yield of ‘Purumi’ was about 5.6% higher as 16,821kg/ha than that of ‘Fawn’. However, the nutritive value of both varieties was similar. When this new variety of tall fescue, Purumi, has been developed and distributed with its most remarkable adaptability for Korean climates and superior value as a livestock feed, it is expected to play an important role for a new restoration of the pasture industry in Korea.

This experiment was conducted to investigate effects of application of diluted and undiluted cattle slurry with water on seasonal and annual dry matter yields and feed values of tall fescue in the uncultivated rice paddy and it was compared with chemical fertilizer. Annual dry matter yields for diluted (average 6.43 ton DM/㏊) and undiluted (average 6.56 ton DM/㏊) cattle slurry were significantly higher (p＜0.05) than those of no fertilizer (3.82 ton DM/㏊). This trend was much more conspicuous in treatments applied in spring. In chemical fertilizer treatments, fertilizers with P and K (6.12 ton DM/㏊), and P, K and N (10.13 ton DM/㏊) had significantly (p＜0.05) higher dry matter yields compared with no fertilizer. However, annual dry matter yields for treatments of P and K mixture tended to be lower than those of cattle slurry applications. The efficiency of DM production for inorganic nitrogen in chemical fertilizers annually averaged 26.7kg DM/kg N. In terms of cutting frequencies, it was highest in 2nd growth followed by 1st and 3rd growth. On the other hand, efficiencies of annual DM production of nitrogen for diluted and undiluted cattle slurry were 18.3 and 17.4 ㎏ DM/kg N, respectively, especially, highest in 2nd growth. While, efficiencies of DM production for cattle slurry versus for inorganic nitrogen were 68.5 (undiluted) and 65.2% (diluted), respectively. For annual crude protein contents of tall fescue, no fertilization (11.5%) was significantly higher than chemical fertilizer, but that was lower than cattle slurry (12.4~12.6%) diluted with water. on the contrary, no fertilizers had significantly lower NDF (64.1%) and ADF (37.2%) contents than those of any other treatments, but their RFV (87.0) was significantly higher (p＜0.05) than other treatments. The application of cattle slurry and their dilution significantly increased yields of crude protein and total digestible nutrients compared with no and/or P and K fertilizers (p＜0.05). This trend was more conspicuous in cattle slurry applied in the early spring.

우용유전자 도입을 통한 신품종 톨페스큐를 개발할 목적으로 Agrobacterium을 이용한 효율적인 형질전환 체계를 확립하였다 톨페스큐 성숙종자 유래의 캘러스를 standard binary vector인 pIG121Hm을 가지는 Agrobacterium EHA101을 이용하여 감염시킨 후 공동배양하여 형질전환시켰다. Agrobacterium을 이용한 형질전환에 있어서 중요한 인자로 작용하는 몇 가지 요인에 대한 톨페스큐 캘러스의 형질전환 효율을 GUS 유전자의 발현정도로 조사하였다. Agrobacterium 감염시에 접종배지와 공동배양배지에 200uM의 acetosyringone(AS)을 첨가해 주었을 때 형질전환 효율이 증가 되었으며, 공동배양기간을 5일까지 증가시켰을 때 형질전환효율이 증가되었다. 또한 Agrobacterium 감염시에 200uM의 AS와 0.l%의 Tween20을 동시에 첨가해 주었을 때 가장 높은 형질전환 효율을 나타내었다. 50 mg/L.의 hygromycin이 첨가된 선발배지에서 살아남은 캘러스로부터 정상적인 식물체가 재분화 되었으며 이들 형질전환체를 GUS 염색과 Southern blot 분석을 실시하여 본 결과 발현백터의 T-DNA 영역이 형질전환 식물체의 genome에 성공적으로 도입되었음을 확인할 수 있었다. 본 연구를 통하여 확립된 효율적인 형질전환 시스템은 분자육종을 통한 신품종 톨페스큐의 개발에 유용하게 이용될 수 있을 것이다

Carbohydrate metabolism and partitioning are dependent on relationships between sources and sinks which can be affected by rates of photosynthesis and respiration. Fructan, the major form of stored carbohydrate in tall fescue (festuca arundineacea Schreb.), changes in concentration during growth and in response to the environment. Objectives of this study were i) to examine the content and the composition of carbohydrates in five tissues (mature leaf blade, immature leaf blade, leaf elongation zone, terminal meristem, and root tips) of two tall fescue genotypes, one with high yield per tiller (HYT) and one with low yield per tiller (LYT), and ii) to compare the reserved and utilized carbohydrates among above five different tissues, particularly between the leaf elongation zone and root tips. The established vegetative tillers of the HYT and LYT genotypes were grown in a controlled-environment growth chamber. Water-soluble carbohydrate (WSC) in the leaf elongation zone was about 22% of dry weight in the HYT and about 19% in the LYT genotype. The root tip also had high WSC, about 12% of dry weight in the HYT and 6% in the LYT genotype. Hexoses and sucrose were the major components of total WSC in all tissues except the leaf elongation zone. The growing tissues (sinks), i.e., the leaf elongation zone and root tip, had a high proportion of low degree of polymerization fructan, i.e., 3 to 8 hexose units.

본 시험은 톨페스큐의 엽과 뿌리생장 및 탄수화물의 저장이동 양상과 관련하여 뿌리 생장부위의 횡적 해부구조 고찰을 통해 표피세포, 피층세포, 및 통도조직세포들의 횡적 신장과 이들 세포의 생리적 생장반응에 대한 질소효과를 구명하고자 수행하였다. 공시품종은 경당 수량성이 높은 HYT 품종과 경당 수량성이 낮은 LYT 품종이었으며, 이들은 잎과 뿌리신장 및 분얼성등 생리적 특성이 다른 품종이었다. 1. 뿌리 생장부위의 횡적 신장은 첨단 뿌리 생장점으로부터 약 1.0 mm이내에서 표피세포, 통도조직세포, 및 특히 피층세포에 의해 횡적신장이 이루어지며, 1.0mm이후에는 서서히 이루어지다가 3.0 mm 부위에서 제2차 횡적신장이 이루어졌다. 2. 뿌리의 제2차 횡적 신장은 주로 피층세포의 신장에 의해 이루어졌으며, HYT와 LYT품종간에는 뚜렷한 차이가 없었으나 질소수준간에는 차이를 보여 200 ppm N 수준에서 뿌리의 횡적신장이 뚜렷하였다. 3. 뿌리의 횡적 신장에 가장 크게 영향을 미치는 피층세포의 경우, 뿌리 생장점으로부터 0.5 mm 이후 횡적 세포분열이 발견되지 않아 피층세포의 횡적 분열보다는 주로 횡적 신장에 의존됨을 알 수 있었다. 또한 뿌리 생장점으로부터 3 mm 이후 피층세포들이 서로 합쳐져 큰 피층세포들을 생성되었는데, 6 mm 부위에서는 아주 큰 피층세포들이 외부층에 많이 생성되었다. 4. 통도조직세포의 경우 뿌리 생장점으로부터 1 mm부위까지 급격한 횡적 신장을 보였으며, 그 이후 3 mm까지는 감소하다가 다시 서서히 증가하였다. 뿌리 생장점으로부터 1mm 부위까지 급격한 횡적 신장시 품종과 질소수준간에 차이를 보여 HYT품종은 50 ppm N 수준에서, LYT품종은 200 ppm N 수준에서 높은 횡적 신장을 보였으나, 3 mm 이후에서는 두 품종 모두 200 ppm N 수준에서 넓은 통도조직세포를 가졌다. 5. 뿌리 생장점으로부터 약 6 mm부위까지 뿌리의 횡적 신장에 관여하는 세포들의 비율을 조사한 결과, 표피세포는 약 10∼18 %, 피층세포는 약 67∼79%, 그리고 통도조직세포는 약 10∼22 %가 뿌리 직경에 관여하는 것으로 나타났다.

본 시험은 톨페스큐의 잎과 뿌리신장 및 동화산물의 생장점부위의 종적인 해부학적 고찰을 통해 세포분열, 신장, 그리고 성숙속도등 세포역학 및 세포의 생리적 반응에 대한 질소의 효과를 연구하고자 수행하였다. 공시품종은 경당 수량성이 높은 HYT 품종과 경당 수량성이 낮은 LYT 품종이었으며, 이들은 엽신장 및 분얼성 등 생리적 특성이 다른 품종이다. 1. 근관, 표피세포, 피층세포, 도관세포로 크게 구분되는 뿌리생장부위는 약 3.2mm로 잎생장부위(약 25~30 mm)보다 훨씬 짧았으며, 근관부위는 약 0.4~0.5 mm였다. 2. 근관세포의 경우 분열시 크기는 약 5 um, 최종크기는 약 40 um였으며 피층세포와 도관세포의 분열시 크기는 각가 8.5 um와 13.0 um, 최종 크기는 각각 120um와 650um로 큰 차이가 있었다. 3. 뿌리생장부위의 피층세포와 도관세포의 분열 직후 또는 최종크기는 질소시용수준에 영향을 받지 않았으나, 세포신장속도는 질소시용수준에 영향을 받아 높은 질소수준(200ppm)에서 보다 낮은 질소수준(50ppm)에서 약 2배 정도 빨랐다. 4. 뿌리세포의 분열속도는 질소의 영향을 받아 피층세포의 경우 50ppm N 수준에서 시간당 약 4.5 세포, 200ppm N 수준에서는 시간당 약 2.3 세포였으며, 도관세포의 경우는 각각 시간당 0.9 세포와 0.6 세포였다. 5. 뿌리세포가 분열 후 최대로 신장하기까지는 시간은 피층세포의 경우 50ppm N에서 약 21 시간, 200ppm N에서 약 43시간이 소요되었으며, 도관세포의 경우는 각각 약 37 시간과 73 시간이 소요되었다. 6. 뿌리생장부위의 피층세포와 도관세포의 비율을 조사한 결과, 세포 분열부위에서는 1:1이었으나, 세포신장부위에서는 그 비율이 증가해 생장점으로부터 1.0 mm 위치에서 5:1로 증가해 계속 유지되었다. 7. 뿌리생장에 대한 질소의 효과를 분석해 볼 때, 질소는 뿌리세포의 크기보다는 세포분열과 세포신장속도에 크게 영향함을 알 수 있었다.