Exogenous sucrose induces the mucilage-like exudates in the roots of bentgrass and is correlated with seedling establishment

Creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.) is an important turfgrass species. Creeping bentgrass, tall fescue, and perennial ryegrass are important cool-season turfgrass species widely used in horticultural landscapes and golf courses. Exogenous sucrose treatment on the plants was shown to modulate the seedling establishment in many plant species, which is an important trait for cool-season turfgrass for successful cultivation. Thus, we analyzed the physiological impact of exogenous sucrose on cool-season turfgrass in this study. Sucrose treatment induced two main responses in grass species: reduced coleoptile length and modulation of the pigment composition. Of the three species, creeping bentgrass was hyposensitive to the sucrose treatment while tall fescue was the most sensitive. Under the sucrose treatment, creeping bentgrass was shown to have secreted unknown mucilage-like exudate in the root tissue. This mucilage-like exudate was more abundant in the etiolation condition than normal short-day condition. When creeping bentgrass and tall fescue was co-cultured in the sucrose treatment condition, tall fescue also was somewhat hyposensitive to the sucrose. In short, our analysis shows the first response of the grass species to the sucrose treatment and provided putative treatment for the excessive amount of sucrose treatment. • Bentgrass was shown to less sensitive to exogenous sucrose while tall fescue was shown to be the most sensitive. • Bentgrass secretes mucilage-like exudates in response to exogenous sucrose condition. • Light inhibits the secretion of mucilage-like exudates in the root of bentgrass. • Tall fescue showed tolerant phenotype on exogenous sucrose when it was grown with bentgrass.