Mechanisms of Environmental Stress Tolerance in Turfgrass

Turfgrasses constitute a vital part of the landscape ecological systems for sports fields, golf courses, home lawns and parks. However, turfgrass species are affected by numerous abiotic stresses include salinity, heat, cold, drought, waterlogging and heavy metals and biotic stresses such as diseases and pests. Harsh environmental conditions may result in growth inhibition, damage in cell structure and metabolic dysfunction. Hence, to survive the capricious environment, turfgrass species have evolved various adaptive strategies. For example, they can expel phytotoxic matters; increase activities of stress response related enzymes and regulate expression of the genes. Simultaneously, some phytohormones and signal molecules can be exploited to improve the stress tolerance in turfgrass. Generally, the mechanisms of the adaptive strategies are integrated but not necessarily the same. Recently, metabolomic, proteomic and transcriptomic analyses have revealed plenty of stress response related metabolites, proteins and genes in turfgrass. Therefore, the regulation mechanism of turfgrass's response to abiotic and biotic stresses was further understood. However, the specific or broad-spectrum related genes that may improve stress tolerance remain to be further identified. Understanding stress response in turfgrass species will contribute to improve stress tolerance of turfgrass.