Selection of genetically diverse sea oats lines with improved performance for coastal restoration in the northern Gulf of Mexico

Numerous sea oats (Uniola paniculata L.) plants are transplanted to Northern Gulf of Mexico beaches each year to reduce coastal erosion. To adapt to environmental changes and effectively reduce coastal erosion, genetically diverse sea oats plants with demonstrated plant performance must be used. The objectives of this study were to: (i) identify improved sea oats lines; and (ii) determine the genetic diversity of improved sea oats lines. From 2003 to 2005, 2,000 sea oats lines were evaluated in unreplicated field trials at natural beach sites. In 2005, 75 sea oats lines were selected based upon phenotypic performance. The 75 selected lines and 3 plants of 'Caminada', the only commercially available sea oats line, were evaluated in replicated field trials in 2008 and 2010. In 2008, UP01LA-15 K-HB-3092, UP01LA-16S-GP-3138, UP01LA-31-GP-3103, UP01LA-33-GP-1303, and UP01NC-04-HB-3374 had higher (p <0.05) stem densities than Caminada. In 2010, variation was not detected for any trait measured; lack of significant differences was most likely due to plant stress caused by storm surge one week after transplant. Amplified Fragment Length Polymorphism detected 534 loci for the 75 selected lines and 3 Caminada plants. One hundred eighty one loci were polymorphic; the average polymorphism rate was 34% (range = 25-43%). Polymorphic information content values ranged from 0.15 to 0.41 and averaged 0.29 while Jaccard similarity coefficients ranged from 0.8243 to 0.9794. These findings demonstrate the application of plant breeding techniques to develop genetically different sea oats lines with improved performance for coastal restoration projects in the northern Gulf of Mexico.