Glyphosate Tolerance Research Articles

Field and biochemical evaluation of glyphosate tolerant chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) mutants developed through induced mutagenesis

Weed control in chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is challenging due to narrow genetic base of available germplasm and limited herbicide options. In this view, present research was focused on induced mutagenesis in chickpea for development of herbicide (glyphosate) tolerant mutants and subsequent screening under field conditions. Further, objective was to analyze the defence response and biochemical adjustments in selected glyphosate tolerant chickpea mutants. Initially, 376 chickpea mutants (M6 populations developed through EMS and gamma rays) were screened for glyphosate tolerance under filed conditions and scored on a 1 to 5 scale based on plant injury related traits. Among tested mutants, 40 were found highly tolerant (score = 5), 32 as tolerant (score = 4) and 20 as highly sensitive (score = 1) to glyphosate. Chickpea mutants with variable glyphosate tolerance also differed significantly (Tukey test, p < 0.05) in leaf biochemical profiles. For instant, lowest total oxidant status (4175.µM/g f. wt.) was detected in glyphosate tolerant mutant developed from desi chickpea genotype “D3009” using 0.3% EMS and in highly tolerant mutant (1775. µM/g f. wt.) developed from kabuli genotype “K709” using 0.2% EMS. In general, highly tolerant chickpea mutants exhibited highest antioxidant potential (SOD, POD, CAT, TAC) that contributed in glyphosate tolerance. Desi i.e. D1M1HT-2 and Kabuli i.e. KM3HT-2 type mutants with highest seed yield had maximum catalase activity (4200 Units/g f. wt and 540 Units/g f. wt.). Mutants developed from desi type genotypes were comparably superior to mutants derive from Kabuli in terms of herbicide tolerance.

Establishment of clary sage (Salvia sclarea L.) regeneration system and development of glyphosate-tolerant clary sage plants through Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation

Clary sage (Salvia sclarea L.) is well known as a highly aromatic herbaceous plant and is commonly used in aromatic products and medicine. The biggest problem in the cultivation of clary sage is weeds, which not only entails a great cost of labor for weeding, but also leads to a great fluctuation in the yield and quality of its products. Therefore, there is a need to breed herbicide-resistant clary sage using genetic engineering. However, the lack of suitable regeneration and genetic transformation systems for clary sage has limited the process of molecular breeding. In this study, we firstly reported the regeneration system of clary sage, where explants from hypocotyls of sage induced adventitious shoots at a rate of 22.22% when cultured on MS medium supplemented with 2.5mg·L-1 6-BA, 0.15mg·L-1 IAA, and 0.25mg·L-1 VC. Rooting of adventitious shoots was achieved at a rate of 94.44% on 1/2 MS medium containing 0.125mg·L-1 NAA, 0.5mg·L-1 IAA, and 0.1mg·L-1 IBA. Secondly, based on the regeneration system, an efficient and stable Agrobacterium-mediated genetic transformation system was established in this paper, and the rate of genetic transformation was determined to be in the range of 3%-5% by transforming the hypocotyls of clary sage with pCAMBIA1301 vector and pCAMBIA1301-GR79-GAT vector. Finally, glyphosate tolerance was obtained from GR79 and GAT co-expressed clary sage plants in this study. This study not only lays the foundation of genetic transformation for the functional gene research and in-depth investigation of various biological problems of clary sage, but also provides a feasible genetic engineering solution for its industry to solve the weed problem, as well as a promotional role for precise molecular breeding of clary sage.

Glyphosate resistance and no fitness cost in backcross offspring of wild soybean and transgenic soybean with epsps gene

BackgroundThe commercial utilization of genetically modified soybeans has yielded substantial economic advantages. Nevertheless, the genetic drift towards wild soybeans is one of the main ecological risks that needs to be addressed. Previous experiments demonstrated the absence of fitness cost or florescence overlap in hybrid offspring resulting from the crossbreeding of transgenic soybean GTS40-3-2 and Zhengzhou wild soybeans. In this study, hybrid progeny was systematically crossed with wild soybeans to establish a backcross progeny system. This system was employed to evaluate the ecological risk associated with the backcross progeny of transgenic and wild soybeans.ResultsThe findings indicated that the offspring from the backcross exhibited glyphosate tolerance. Furthermore, the expression of foreign proteins in the backcross offspring was notably lower than in the transgenic soybean, and there was no significant difference when compared to the hybrid progeny. Parameters such as germination rate, aboveground biomass, pods per plant, full seeds per plant, and 100-grain weight exhibited no significant differences between the negative and positive lines of the backcross progenies, and no fitness cost was identified in comparison to wild soybeans. These results underscore the potential for foreign genes to propagate within other wild soybeans, which requires continuous attention.ConclusionsThe widespread adoption of genetically modified soybeans has undeniably led to substantial economic gains. However, the research findings emphasize the critical importance of addressing the ecological risks posed by genetic drift towards wild soybeans. The backcross progeny system established in this study indicates that the potential for foreign gene dissemination to wild soybean populations warrants continued attention and mitigation strategies.

Evolving dual-trait EPSP synthase variants using a synthetic yeast selection system

The enzyme 5-enolpyruvylshikimate-3-phosphate synthase (EPSPS) functions in the shikimate pathway which is responsible for the production of aromatic amino acids and precursors of other essential secondary metabolites in all plant species. EPSPS is also the molecular target of the herbicide glyphosate. While some plant EPSPS variants have been characterized with reduced glyphosate sensitivity and have been used in biotechnology, the glyphosate insensitivity typically comes with a cost to catalytic efficiency. Thus, there exists a need to generate additional EPSPS variants that maintain both high catalytic efficiency and high glyphosate tolerance. Here, we create a synthetic yeast system to rapidly study and evolve heterologous EPSP synthases for these dual traits. Using known EPSPS variants, we first validate that our synthetic yeast system is capable of recapitulating growth characteristics observed in plants grown in varying levels of glyphosate. Next, we demonstrate that variants from mutagenesis libraries with distinct phenotypic traits can be isolated depending on the selection criteria applied. By applying strong dual-trait selection pressure, we identify a notable EPSPS mutant after just a single round of evolution that displays robust glyphosate tolerance (Ki of nearly 1 mM) and improved enzymatic efficiency over the starting point (~2.5 fold). Finally, we show the crystal structure of corn EPSPS and the top resulting mutants and demonstrate that certain mutants have the potential to outperform previously reported glyphosate-resistant EPSPS mutants, such as T102I and P106S (denoted as TIPS), in whole-plant testing. Altogether, this platform helps explore the trade-off between glyphosate resistance and enzymatic efficiency.

Agbiogeneric soybean with glyphosate tolerance: Genetic transformation of new Colombian varieties

Agbiogeneric soybean with glyphosate tolerance: Genetic transformation of new Colombian varieties

Using Partial Least Squares and Regression to Interpret Temperature and Precipitation Effects on Maize and Soybean Genetic Variance Expression

Partial least squares (PLS) is a statistical technique that can evaluate the association of large numbers of external environmental variables with biological responses. PLS is a good method for analyzing the relative importance of variables and compressing the data for regression analyses. The objective of this study was to use PLS and regression analyses on soybean (Glycine max L.) and maize (Zea mays L.) variety trial results for five (soybean) or three (maize) maturity group (MG) tests, at five Tennessee locations spanning 14 years, in order to determine the environmental effects (weekly minimum and maximum air temperature and precipitation) on the expression of yield genetic variance (Vg). Overall, PLS excelled at identifying combinations of weather variables to develop models with high R2 values (41–59%) relative to the regression analysis (R2 = 34–44%), but they did not address the effects of specific variables as in regression analysis. In both maize and soybean, differences in genetic variance occurred among MG tests and locations. Overall, precipitation was the driving variable for maize Vg, indicating maize is more sensitive to rain events during the growing season than soybean, i.e., with each cm of precipitation, maize Vg increased by 11.38–23.78 (Mg ha−1)2. The results suggest that ensuring adequate water, particularly during weeks 3 and 6, is critical for maize Vg, regardless of the MG test and location. Genetically modified soybean cultivars responded similarly to conventional cultivars, suggesting no Vg response differences due to the glyphosate tolerance trait. These results have important implications for irrigation timing for the maximum expression of genetic differences in maize and soybean cultivars, particularly for management planning during future stochastic weather events.

Subchronic feeding study of glyphosate-tolerant maize GG2 with the gr79-epsps and gat genes in Wistar Han RCC rats

The genetically modified (GM) maize GG2 contains gr79-epsps and gat genes, conferring glyphosate tolerance. The present study aimed to investigate potential effects of maize GG2 in a 90-day subchronic feeding study on Wistar Han RCC rats. Maize grains from GG2 or non-GM maize were incorporated into diets at concentrations of 25% and 50% and administered to Wistar Han RCC rats (n = 10/sex/group) for 90 days. The basal-diet group of rats (n = 10/sex/group) were fed with common commercialized rodent diet. Compared with rats fed with the corresponding non-GM maize and the basal-diet, no biologically relevant differences were observed in rats fed with the maize GG2, according to the results of body weight/gain, feed consumption/utilization, clinical signs, mortality, ophthalmology, clinical pathology (hematology, prothrombin time, urinalysis, serum chemistry), organ weights, and gross and microscopic pathology. Under the conditions of this study, these results indicated that maize GG2 is as safe as the non-GM maize in this 90-day feeding study.

Artificial evolution of OsEPSPS through an improved dual cytosine and adenine base editor generated a novel allele conferring rice glyphosate tolerance.

Exploiting novel endogenous glyphosate-tolerant alleles is highly desirable and has promising potential for weed control in rice breeding. Here, through fusions of different effective cytosine and adenine deaminases with nCas9-NG, we engineered an effective surrogate two-component composite base editing system, STCBE-2, with improved C-to-T and A-to-G base editing efficiency and expanded the editing window. Furthermore, we targeted a rice endogenous OsEPSPS gene for artificial evolution through STCBE-2-mediated near-saturated mutagenesis. After hygromycin and glyphosate selection, we identified a novel OsEPSPS allele with an Asp-213-Asn (D213N) mutation (OsEPSPS-D213N) in the predicted glyphosate-binding domain, which conferred rice plants reliable glyphosate tolerance and had not been reported or applied in rice breeding. Collectively, we developed a novel dual base editor which will be valuable for artificial evolution of important genes in crops. And the novel glyphosate-tolerant rice germplasm generated in this study will benefit weeds management in rice paddy fields.

Effects of stacking breeding on the methylome and transcriptome profile of transgenic rice with glyphosate tolerance.

Transcriptomics and methylomics were used to identify the potential effects resulting from GM rice breeding stacks, which provided scientific data for the safety assessment strategy of stacked GM crops in China. Gene interaction is one of the main concerns for stacked genetically modified crop safety. With the development of technology, the combination of omics and bioinformatics has become a useful tool to evaluate the unintended effects of genetically modified crops. In this study, transcriptomics and methylomics were used as molecular profiling techniques to identify the potential effects of stack through breeding. Stacked transgenic rice En-12 × Ec-26 was used as material, which was obtained through hybridization using parents En-12 and Ec-26, in which the foreign protein can form functional EPSPS protein by intein-mediated trans-splitting. Differentially methylated region (DMR) analysis showed that the effect of stacking breeding on methylation was less than that of genetic transformation at the methylome level. Differentially expressed gene (DEG) analysis showed that the DEGs between En-12 × Ec-26 and its parents were far fewer than those between transgenic rice and Zhonghua 11 (ZH11), and no unintended new genes were found in En-12 × Ec-26. Statistical analysis of gene expression and methylation involved in shikimic acid metabolism showed that there was no difference in gene expression, although there were 16 and 10 DMR genes between En-12 × Ec-26 and its parents (En and Ec) in methylation, respectively. The results indicated that the effect of stacking breeding on gene expression and DNA methylation was less than the effect of genetic transformation. This study provides scientific data supporting safety assessments of stacked GM crops in China.

A 90-day rodent feeding study with grain for genetically modified maize L4 conferring insect resistance and glyphosate tolerance.

A 90-day rat feeding study was performed to conduct a safety assessment on L4, a multi-gene genetically modified maize, conferring "Bt" insect resistance and glyphosate tolerance. A total of 140 Wistar rats were assigned to seven groups, 10 animals/group/sex, which comprised three genetically modified groups fed diets containing different concentrations of L4, three corresponding non-genetically modified groups fed diets containing different concentrations of zheng58 (parent plants), and a basal diet group fed the standard basal diet for 13 weeks. The fed diets contained L4 and Zheng58 at w/w% percentages of 12.5%, 25.0%, and 50% of the total. Animals were evaluated on some research parameters, including general behaviour, body weight/gain, feed consumption/efficiency, ophthalmology, clinical pathology, organ weights, and histopathology. Throughout the feeding trial, all animals were in good condition. No mortality and no biologically relevant effects or toxicologically significant alterations were observed in the total research parameters of the rats in the genetically modified groups compared with those in the basal diet group or their corresponding non-genetically modified groups. No adverse effects were observed in any of the animals. The results indicated that L4 is as safe and wholesome as conventional, non-genetically modified control maize.

Switching costs in the US seed industry: Technology adoption and welfare impacts

We evaluate the role of brand and technology switching costs in the US soybean seed industry using a unique dataset of actual seed purchases by about 28,000 farmers from 1996 to 2016. Using a random coefficients logit model of demand, we estimate brand and technology switching costs, characterize the distributions of buyers’ willingness to pay for seed brands and the glyphosate tolerance (GT) trait, and assess the implications of brand and technology switching costs for farmers’ welfare, technology adoption, firm profits, and firm market shares. We find that farmers are willing to pay large premiums for brand labels, and even larger premiums for the GT trait, although there is considerable heterogeneity in these values. Switching costs play an important role in the soybean seed industry. Eliminating these costs would significantly increase buyers’ welfare, reduce seed prices and firm profits, decrease adoption of the GT trait, and impact industry consolidation by expanding smaller firms’ market shares.

Micro-Climatic effect on Cotton Yield, quality, Bt toxin &amp; GT Gene

Unsuitable change in climatic conditions cause decline in quality and yield of major crops. Plant growth is directly affected if temperature, rainfall or humidity are not optimum. A multi-location and multi season evaluation of climatic effects on quality and yield may produce a reliable data for future breeding. A set of 39 upcoming varieties of cotton were evaluated on six different Micro-climatic locations of Punjab i.e. Multan, Bahawalpur, Sahiwal, Rahimyar khan, Vehari and Faisalabad in a triplicated trial. The experiment was repeated next year on same locations. Data for three key environmental factors such as temperature, rainfall and humidity was recorded at each station. The crop was analyzed for yield, fiber length, fiber strength and fiber fineness. The genotypes were also evaluated for Bt toxin and Glyphosate tolerance gene (GTG). The analysis revealed that high temperature has negative effect on yield, Bt expression, fineness, uniformity and GTG. Precipitation and humidity had positive effect on fiber fineness and uniformity, whereas, negative effect of both environmental factors was recorded for fiber length and strength. Increase in precipitation at early cropping stage was associated with increase in yield whereas higher humidity has negative impact on yield. As compared to high average temperature and number of days above 400C, cotton yield is more sensitive to heat waves (maximum temperature). Varieties with high temperature tolerance in cotton should be breed for climate change scenario.

Morphoanatomic characterization of Gomphrena perennis and Gomphrena pulchella leaves

Background Gomphrena perennis (Gpe) and G. pulchella (Gpu) are perennial glyphosate-tolerant amaranthaceous weeds of central and northern Argentina where glyphosate-resistant soybeans are grown with no-till. The study of weeds leaves morphoanatomy is important to understand environmental adaptation and could be used to explain herbicide absorption. Leaf surfaces of Gomphrena species were previously described for phylogenetic studies, and morphoanatomy of two Gomphrena perennis populations was characterized for glyphosate tolerance. There are no reports on comparative studies of Gpe and Gpu. [...]

Registration of ‘S16‐5503GT’ soybean cultivar with high yield, broad adaptation, and glyphosate tolerance

Abstract‘S16‐5503GT’ (Reg. no. CV‐555, PI 700002) is a semi‐determinate, late‐maturity group IV (relative maturity, 4.8), glyphosate‐tolerant, high‐yielding soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] cultivar developed and released in 2021 by the University of Missouri‐Fisher Delta Research, Extension, and Education Center (MU‐FDREEC) soybean breeding program. Southern U.S. growers’ preference for high‐yielding, early‐maturing cultivars with glyphosate tolerance and broad disease resistance motivated the development of S16‐5503GT soybean. It was evaluated in a total of 92 environments across 12 U.S. mid‐southern states from 2017 to 2021 for yield and agronomic traits. Across all testing environments, S16‐5503GT yielded 4,258 kg ha−1, which was equivalent to 108% of the non‐Xtend check mean and 102% of the Xtend check mean, ranking in the top 19% overall. In the 2021 Southern State Variety Trials, S16‐5503GT yielded 4,455 kg ha−1 and ranked in the top 43% overall. S16‐5503GT is resistant to soybean cyst nematode races 3 (HG type 5.7) and 5 (HG type 2.5.7) and moderately resistant to race 2 (HG type 1.2.5.7). It is also resistant to southern root‐knot nematode, reniform nematode, frogeye leaf spot, charcoal rot, and brown stem rot and is tolerant to extreme salinity conditions. The broad disease resistance package combined with high‐yielding performance and wide adaptability across multiple mid‐southern states make S16‐5503GT an excellent cultivar choice for soybean growers in the southern United States, where late‐maturity group IV varieties are in demand.

Investigations into differential glyphosate sensitivity between two horseweed (Conyza canadensis) growth types

AbstractHorseweed [Conyza canadensis (L.) Cronquist] grows in one of two distinct growth phenotypes, “rosette” and “upright” growth types, and they have recently been observed co-occurring in Michigan fields. Previous research found that upright plants from two glyphosate-resistant populations were 3- and 4-fold less sensitive to glyphosate than their rosette siblings. Further experiments were conducted to investigate whether differential glyphosate sensitivity of the growth types was due to glyphosate retention, absorption, or translocation. The total amount of glyphosate retained on the C. canadensis leaf surface was similar for both growth types; however, on a per-weight and per-area bases, the upright growth type retained 21% and 18% less glyphosate, respectively. Glyphosate absorption was up to 85% at 168 h after treatment (HAT), and was not different between the rosette and upright growth types or between the susceptible (S) and resistant (R) biotypes. Additionally, there was no difference in translocation between the two growth types within each biotype at any time point. Interestingly, at 168 HAT, [14C]glyphosate translocation was higher in the S rosette compared with the two growth types from the R biotype; however, the S upright type was similar to both R growth types. Thus, glyphosate resistance in the R biotype may be due to an alternative mechanism rather than impaired translocation, which has been cited as the primary mechanism of glyphosate resistance in C. canadensis. These results suggest that reduced glyphosate retention on a per-weight and per-area bases of the upright growth type may contribute to increased glyphosate tolerance due to a diluted concentration of glyphosate in the plant. However, another factor is likely related to the mechanism of resistance within the R biotype, which is contributing to a 3-fold difference in glyphosate sensitivity between the two growth types, such as alterations in EPSPS gene expression or changes in undescribed metabolism genes.

Morphoanatomic characterization of Gomphrena perennis and Gomphrena pulchella leaves

Background Gomphrena perennis (Gpe) and G. pulchella (Gpu) are perennial glyphosate-tolerant amaranthaceous weeds of central and northern Argentina where glyphosate-resistant soybeans are grown with no-till. The study of weeds leaves morphoanatomy is important to understand environmental adaptation and could be used to explain herbicide absorption. Leaf surfaces of Gomphrena species were previously described for phylogenetic studies, and morphoanatomy of two Gomphrena perennis populations was characterized for glyphosate tolerance. There are no reports on comparative studies of Gpe and Gpu. [...]

Adequacy of glyphosate doses in the Merremia cissoides (Lam.) Hallier f. control as a function of light intensity in the growth environments

Shading interferes with the weed’s biology, which can change their sensitivity to post-emergence herbicides. The objective was to evaluate the control of Merremia cissoides with glyphosate in full sunlight and shade conditions in two plant growth stages (30 and 73 days after sowing (DAS)). At 30 and 73 DAS, treatments were established in a 2 × 5 and 2 × 6 factorial scheme, respectively. In both experiments, the growth environments constituted the first factor, and the glyphosate doses the second factor. Shading promoted 50 and 40% reductions in glyphosate doses at 30 and 73 DAS, respectively. At 73 DAS, M. cissoides is 177.77 and 131.48% more tolerant to glyphosate than 30 DAS in shading and full sunlight, respectively. Due to the increase in glyphosate tolerance as the plant grows, the management of M. cissoides should be carried out until the stage of six fully expanded leaves. Increasing glyphosate doses reduced the quantum yield of photosystem II and electron transport rate (ETR) in both growth environments, with ETR data showing a high negative correlation with the control. The doses reductions promoted by shading and glyphosate application in the initial growth stage of M. cissoides reduces costs and the negative environmental impacts of this herbicide use.

Time-Series Monitoring of Transgenic Maize Seedlings Phenotyping Exhibiting Glyphosate Tolerance

Glyphosate is a widely used nonselective herbicide. Probing the glyphosate tolerance mechanism is necessary for the screening and development of resistant cultivars. In this study, a hyperspectral image was used to develop a more robust leaf chlorophyll content (LCC) prediction model based on different datasets to finally analyze the response of LCC to glyphosate-stress. Chlorophyll a fluorescence (ChlF) was used to dynamically monitor the photosynthetic physiological response of transgenic glyphosate-resistant and wild glyphosate-sensitive maize seedlings and applying chemometrics methods to extract time-series features to screen resistant cultivars. Six days after glyphosate treatment, glyphosate-sensitive seedlings exhibited significant changes in leaf reflection and photosynthetic activity. By updating source domain and transfer component analysis, LCC prediction model performance was improved effectively (the coefficient of determination value increased from 0.65 to 0.84). Based on the predicted LCC and ChlF data, glyphosate-sensitive plants are too fragile to protect themselves from glyphosate stress, while glyphosate-resistant plants were able to maintain normal photosynthetic physiological activity. JIP-test parameters, φE0, VJ, ψE0, and M0, were used to indicate the degree of plant damage caused by glyphosate. This study constructed a transferable model for LCC monitoring to finally evaluate glyphosate tolerance in a time-series manner and verified the feasibility of ChlF in screening glyphosate-resistant cultivars.

Effect of nitrogen and glyphosate on the plant community composition in a simulated field margin ecosystem: Model-based ordination of pin-point cover data

The effect of nitrogen and glyphosate on the plant community composition was investigated in a simulated field margin ecosystem. The plant community composition was inferred from pin-point cover data using a model-based ordination method that is suited for modelling pin-point cover data. The mean structure of the ordination model is analogous to a standard linear model, which enabled us to estimate the mean effects of nitrogen and glyphosate and their interaction in the two-dimensional ordination space. There were significant effects of both nitrogen and glyphosate on the plant community composition and overall species diversity. The effects of nitrogen and glyphosate on the plant community composition differed significantly. Furthermore, the estimated combined effects of nitrogen and glyphosate indicated that nitrogen and glyphosate enforced the effect of each other on the plant community composition by synergistic interactions. Addition of nitrogen and glyphosate was found to favor a plant community that was dominated by perennial grasses, and there was a tendency for glyphosate to select for plant communities in which annual plants were more frequent. The results suggest that using the notion of plant functional types and specific knowledge of the degree of glyphosate tolerance may be effective for predicting the effect of glyphosate on the community composition.

Mowing frequency and performance of genetically modified St. Augustinegrass and standard commercial cultivars

AbstractMowing is a key input when maintaining a turfgrass lawn but has an environmental impact and represents a repetitive expense. In an effort to reduce canopy growth rate and to improve weed control, genetically modified St. Augustinegrasses [Stenotaphrum secundatum (Walter) Kuntze] derived from the cultivar ‘Floratam’ are now in production and characterized by reduced levels of t gibberellic acid by insertion of the spinach (Spinacia oleracea L.) gibberellic acid 2‐oxidase gene and glyphosate tolerance due to the insertion of 5‐enolpyruvylshikimate‐3‐phosphate synthase gene from Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. The objective of this study was to determine if eight genetically modified St. Augustinegrass entries required less frequent mowing than two standard commercial cultivars, Floratam and ‘615866’ (Seville™), while maintaining turfgrass quality (TQ) comparable to the standards. This study was planted in 2017 as a randomized complete block design at two Florida locations. Mowing frequency, TQ, density, and color were recorded from 2018 to 2019. Gray leaf spot severity was rated when present. Overall, the genetically modified St. Augustinegrass entries required less frequent mowing than standard cultivars, with PV‐A and PV‐B requiring less frequent mowing than Floratam across all seasons at both locations. Of these two, PV‐A showed TQ comparable to Floratam at Fort Lauderdale Research and Education Center for the entirety of the trial, and at Plant Science Research and Education Unit for 7/10 seasons. For end‐users, the availability of a high performing turfgrass with reduced mowing requirements can lead to a decreased maintenance cost and a reduced environmental impact.