Genome polymorphism markers and stress genes expression for identifying turf species

Abstract

Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are produced in both stressed and unstressed cells. Superoxide dismutase (SOD) and phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL) play an important role in the defense against ROS. Eight different turf grass species were used in order to detect their ability to withstand environmental stress through investigating SOD and PAL gene expression and also the genetic relationship among them using random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) molecular markers. The levels of expression of PAL, SOD genes and mRNA varied with the type of turf; both PAL and SOD gene expressions were low in cold season turf grasses (kentucky blue grass and fine fescue), moderate for bermuda hybrids (tifgreen and tifway) and high in Paspalum vaginatum. Primer 3 (UBC-245) can be used to distinguish between Paspalum species, also between common burmuda (Cynodon dactylon) and burmuda hybrids. It was concluded that hot season genera can withstand environmental stress more than cold season ones since they have more SOD and PAL gene expressions. Also, DNA markers can be used to differentiate between different turf genera which are hard to be differentiated morphologically.

Keywords: Turf, superoxide dismutase, phenylalanine ammonia lyase, RAPD markers, oligonucleotide primers, burmuda hybrids.

African Journal of Biotechnology, Vol 13(24) 2394-2399