Abstract
Zoysia japonica is a warm-season turfgrass that is extensively used in landscaping, sports fields, and golf courses worldwide. Uncovering the low-temperature response mechanism of Z. japonica can help to accelerate the development of new cold-tolerant cultivars, which could be used to prolong the ornamental and usage duration of turf. A novel Z. japonica biotype, YueNong-9 (YN-9), was collected from northeastern China for this study. Phenotypic measurements, cold-tolerance investigation, and whole-transcriptome surveys were performed on YN-9 and LanYin-3 (LY-3), the most popular Z. japonica cultivar in Southern China. The results indicated the following: YN-9 has longer second and third leaves than LY-3; when exposed to the natural low temperature during winter in Guangzhou, YN-9 accumulated 4.74 times more anthocyanin than LY-3; after cold acclimation and freezing treatment, 83.25 ± 9.55% of YN-9 survived while all LY-3 leaves died, and the dark green color index (DGCI) value of YN-9 was 1.78 times that of LY-3; in YN-9, there was a unique up-regulation of Phenylalanine ammonia-lyase (PAL), Homeobox-leucine Zipper IV (HD-ZIP), and ATP-Binding Cassette transporter B8 (ABCB8) expressions, as well as a unique down-regulation of zinc-regulated transporters and iron-regulated transporter-like proteins (ZIPs) expression, which may promote anthocyanin biosynthesis, transport, and accumulation. In conclusion, YN-9 exhibited enhanced cold tolerance and is thus an excellent candidate for breeding cold-tolerant Z. japonica variety, and its unique low-temperature-induced anthocyanin accumulation and gene responses provide ideas and candidate genes for the study of low-temperature tolerance mechanisms and genetic engineering breeding.
Highlights
Zoysiagrasses are species of the genus Zoysia Willd. that are native throughout the western Pacific Rim and the Indian Ocean [1,2]
The results indicated that the second and third leaf blades of YN-9 and third leaf blades of YN-9 were 22.37% and 23.63% longer than that of LanYin No 3 (LY-3), respectively, were 22.37% and 23.63% longer than that of LY-3, respectively, but no significant differbut no significant differences in leaf widths were observed (Table 1)
YueNong-9 (YN-9) is a Zoysia japonica biotype collected from northeast China where the winter temperature can drop to −18 ◦ C
Summary
Zoysiagrasses are species of the genus Zoysia Willd. that are native throughout the western Pacific Rim and the Indian Ocean [1,2]. Hotta and Kuroki, previously known as Z. tenuifolia, and their interspecific hybrids, have been widely used for various turfgrass applications, including home lawns, golf course tees, fairways and greens, road sides and medians, and other recreational sites [3,4,5] These zoysiagrass varieties have acquired favor among turfgrass practitioners due to their minimal cultural demands, water-use efficiency, and extensive tolerance to cold, shade, salt, diseases, and insects [5,6]. Research progress in zoysiagrass have been relatively slow when compared to major agricultural crops, mostly because Zoysia is a perennial, open-pollinated, polyploid grass, making it genetically complicated and a challenging candidate to study.
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