Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Testing the Efficacy of a Polyester Bagging Method for Selfing Switchgrass

  • Published:
BioEnergy Research Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) is a naturally allogamous species. Recent studies indicated conditional self-compatibility exists in the species and can be used to produce inbreds for the exploitation of heterosis in biomass production. However, efficient and reliable bagging methods are unavailable for development of inbreeding. This study was designed to determine the efficacy of a polyester bagging method in blocking extraneous pollen such that switchgrass may self more efficiently. In this experiment four northern lowland (NL) inbreds, four NL non-inbreds, two southern lowland (SL) non-inbreds and 16 upland-lowland (interecotypic) F1 hybrids were self-pollinated by enclosing their inflorescences in polyester bags in the field; bags were also placed on 14 F1 interecotypic hybrid plants potted in a greenhouse. The reliability of the bags was determined using eight to ten simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers that distinguished the genetic parentage of the pollen. Contaminants were identified in two groups: outcrossing contaminants (OCs) and physical contaminants (PCs) based on the amplified alleles of their progeny and their seed parents. Of 39 polyester bags field tested in 2012, 35 bags showed 100 % selfed progeny, four showed PCs; no OCs were identified. Similarly, of 61 bags tested in 2013 in two field plots, 50 bags produced 100 % selfed progeny, while four bags produced OCs, five produced PCs and the other two produced both OCs and PCs. No contaminants were identified from the progeny of 18 bags used in the greenhouse, suggesting that high wind speed, physical damage or handling errors may have resulted in the contaminations of bagged progeny in the field. The result of this experiment establishes the increased reliability of the polyester bagging method over previously tested methods for selfing switchgrass under field and greenhouse conditions. Additionally, the S1, S2 and S3 inbreds produced in this study will contribute to developing completely or near completely homozygous inbred lines in the future.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig 1
Fig 2
Fig 3

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Sanderson MA, Reed RL, McLaughlin SB, Wullschleger SD, Conger BV, Parrish DJ, Wolf DD, Taliaferro C, Hopkins AA, Ocumpaugh WR, Hussey MA, Read JC, Tischler CR (1996) Switchgrass as a sustainable bioenergy crop. Bioresour Technol 56:83–93. doi:10.1016/0960-8524(95)00176-X

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  2. Porter CL Jr (1966) An analysis of variation between upland and lowland switchgrass, Panicum Virgatum L., in central Oklahoma. Ecology 47:980–992. doi:10.2307/1935646

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Martínez-Reyna JM, Vogel KP (2002) Incompatibility systems in switchgrass. Crop Sci 42:1800–1805. doi:10.2135/cropsci2002.1800

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Thomson AM, Izaurralde RC, West T, Parrish DJ, Tyler DD, Williams JR (2009) Simulating potential switchgrass production in the United States. Pacific Northwest National Laboratory Richland, WA

    Book  Google Scholar 

  5. Martinez-Reyna JM. Vogel KP (2008) Heterosis in switchgrass: spaced plants. Crop Sci., vol 48. doi:10.2135/cropsci2007.12.0695

  6. Vogel KP, Mitchell RB (2008) Heterosis in switchgrass: biomass yield in swards. Crop Sci 48:2159–2164. doi:10.2135/cropsci2008.02.0117

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. Schmer MR, Vogel KP, Mitchell RB, Perrin RK (2008) Net energy of cellulosic ethanol from switchgrass. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 105:464–469. doi:10.1073/pnas.0704767105

    Article  PubMed Central  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  8. Casler M (2012) Switchgrass breeding, genetics, and genomics. In: Monti A (ed) Switchgrass. Green Energy and Technology, Springer London, pp 29–53. doi:10.1007/978-1-4471-2903-5_2

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  9. Jones MD, Brown JG (1951) Pollination cycles of some grasses in Oklahoma. Agron J 43:218–222. doi:10.2134/agronj1951.00021962004300050003x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Liu L. Wu Y (2012) Identification of a selfing compatible genotype and mode of inheritance in switchgrass. BioEnergy Research, vol 5. Springer-Verlag. doi:10.1007/s12155-011-9173-z

  11. Liu L. Thames S. Wu Y (2013) Lowland switchgrass plants in populations set completely outcrossed seeds under field conditions as assessed with ssr markers. Bioenerg Res:1–7. doi:10.1007/s12155-013-9367-7

  12. Liu L, Wu Y (2012) Development of a genome-wide multiple duplex-SSR protocol and its applications for the identification of selfed progeny in switchgrass. BMC Genomics 13:1–13. doi:10.1186/1471-2164-13-522

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  13. Wang Z-Y, Ge Y, Scott M, Spangenberg G (2004) Viability and longevity of pollen from transgenic and nontransgenic tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea)(Poaceae) plants. Am J Bot 91:523–530

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  14. Ge Y, Fu C, Bhandari H, Bouton J, Brummer EC, Wang Z-Y (2011) Pollen viability and longevity of switchgrass (L.). Crop Sci 51:2698–2705

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Ecker G, Meyer T, Auer C (2013) Pollen longevity and dispersion models for switchgrass. Crop Sci 53:1120–1127. doi:10.2135/cropsci2012.06.0382

    Article  Google Scholar 

  16. McAdam NJ, Senior J, Hayward MD (1987) Testing the efficiency of pollination bag materials. Plant Breed 98:178–180

    Article  Google Scholar 

  17. pbsinternational why our bags are best http://www.pbsinternational.com/our-products/. Accessed 3/2 2014

  18. Todd J ((2011).) Study of the diversity, inbreeding potential, and sward heritability of switchgrass. ProQuest dissertations and theses 147. Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com/docview/926208151?accountid=4117. (926208151). (Order No. 3498112, Oklahoma State University)

  19. Vogel K. Sarath G. Mitchell R (2014) Micro-mesh fabric pollination bags for switchgrass. Crop Sci. doi:10.2135/cropsci2013.09.064

  20. Wang YW, Samuels TD, Wu YQ (2011) Development of 1,030 genomic SSR markers in switchgrass. Theor Appl Genet 122:677–686. doi:10.1007/s00122-010-1477-4

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  21. Bhandari H. Saha M. Bouton J (2010) Genetic variation in lowland switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.). In: Huyghe C (ed) Sustainable use of genetic diversity in forage and turf breeding. Springer Netherlands, pp 67–71. doi:10.1007/978-90-481-8706-5_7

  22. Okada M, Lanzatella C, Tobias C (2011) Single-locus EST-SSR markers for characterization of population genetic diversity and structure across ploidy levels in switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.). Genet Resour Crop Evol 58:919–931. doi:10.1007/s10722-010-9631-z

    Article  Google Scholar 

  23. Mesonet (2012) Mesonet climatological data summary. http://www.mesonet.org/common/db/library/functions/mcd/mcd.php?ver=2&year=2012&month=9&format=pdf&stid=STIL. Accessed 6/27 2013

Download references

Acknowledgments

The research was supported by the NSF EPSCoR award EPS 0814361, the DOT-DOE Sun Grant Initiative award DTOS59-07-T-00053, YQW Hatch funds and the Oklahoma Agricultural Experiment Station. Thanks go to Pu Feng, Shiva Makaju, Gary Williams, Seth Davis and Ethane Purkins for their technical help in both the field and greenhouse, to Linglong Liu, Tilin Fang and Tim Samuels for their help in the laboratory, and to Dr. Ulrich Melcher for editing of the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Plant and Soil Sciences, Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, 74078, USA

    Laxman Adhikari, Michael P. Anderson, Art Klatt & Yanqi Wu

Authors
  1. Laxman Adhikari
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Michael P. Anderson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Art Klatt
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yanqi Wu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yanqi Wu.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Adhikari, L., Anderson, M.P., Klatt, A. et al. Testing the Efficacy of a Polyester Bagging Method for Selfing Switchgrass. Bioenerg. Res. 8, 380–387 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-014-9528-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12155-014-9528-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation