Evaluation of centipedegrass [ <i>Eremochloa ophiuroides</i> (Munro) Hack] lines in multi‐environment trials in North Carolina

Abstract Centipedegrass [ Eremochloa ophiuroides (Munro) Hack] requires fewer inputs and is more tolerant to biotic and abiotic stresses than other warm‐season turfgrasses. However, reduced morphological variation has hampered breeding efforts and just a few commercial cultivars are available in the market. The chemical agent ethyl methane‐sulfonate (EMS) was used to develop useful genetic variation in common centipedegrass. The objectives of this study were to evaluate these newly generated breeding lines in multi‐environment trials in order to (1) select lines with stability of performance across North Carolina and (2) estimate expected genetic gains through the use of the additive selection index. Centipedegrass genotypes were evaluated from 2017 to 2019 for aesthetic, production, and stress tolerance traits at three locations in North Carolina. Genetic variability was observed for drought resistance, inflorescence density, spring green‐up, percent ground cover in year 1, leaf texture, turfgrass quality, and winterkill across locations. Type‐B genetic correlations ranged from low to moderate, except for seed yield, indicating genotype by environment interaction might have a large effect on centipedegrass performance across target environments. Indirect selection using the additive index resulted in increased expected genetic gains for multiple traits simultaneously as compared to direct selection for a single trait. Several EMS‐derived lines were ranked better than the commercial cultivars across traits. In conclusion, despite the relatively high genotype by environment interaction observed in the target environments, our study identified genetic variability for several traits, which has been a challenge in centipedegrass. Furthermore, superior lines identified in our study will be used as parental lines in polycrosses to develop new cultivars.