Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The participants listed met at The Pyle Center on the University of Wisconsin – Madison campus in Madison, WI on April 13^th, 2017. The meeting schedule was as follows:

8:30 – 9:15 AM – Dr. Thea Whitman (UW – Madison): An Introduction to the Soil Microbiome from a Soil Biologist’s Perspective

9:15 – 10:00 AM – Group discussion with Dr. Whitman related to how soil microbiome research can be converted into applicable management recommendations for turfgrass managers.

10:15 – 11:15 AM – Dan Dinelli (North Shore Country Club): Putting the Turf Phytobiome in Practice From a Turf Manager’s Perspective

12:15 – 1:15 PM – Discussion on group project updates and potential future funding avenues

• Potential turf phytobiome funding agencies discussed
  • Crop Protection and Pest Manaagement (CPPM)
  • United States Golf Association
  • NSF Plant BIO
  • NSF Water Energy Food Nexus
  • Organic/soil health initiatives (both public and private)
  • The Lawn Institute
  • Wadsworth Institute
  • OJ Noer Foundation
• Also discussed the need to acquire preliminary data to include in future grant proposals and the need to reach out to non-turf scientists to expand the breadth of expertise in our phytobiome research
• Group project update
  • Participating institutions: Maryland, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Connecticut, Michigan, and New York
  • All participating institutions conducted the experiment and collected the samples in 2017 and placed into a -20°C or -80°C to await extraction
  • We initiated a multi-state field study in collaboration with scientists from Maryland, New York, Michigan, Connecticut, and Wisconsin. The objective of this study is to determine optimum sampling procedures for turfgrass microbiome research studies. We established a perennial ryegrass turf (cultivar ‘Stellar 3GL’). Once established, plots were mowed once each week at 5.1 cm with clippings returned. Fertilizer was applied using a granular source (18-5-9).  The first application occurred 2 weeks post germination and subsequent applications were 24.4 kg N ha^-1 monthly following first application.  Subsequent applications of 24.4 kg N ha^-1 occurred at 42 d, 70 d, and 98 d post germination. Acclaim Extra (1.46 L ha^-1) in a spray solution with nonionic surfactant (0.25% v/v) was applied approximately 4 weeks after seed germination for crabgrass control and Speedzone (3.5 L ha^-1) was applied approximately 5 weeks after germination for broadleaf weed control.
  • We established two treatments: (1) microbial inoculant (Worm Power) and (2) no treatment. The study was arranged as a randomized complete block design with four replications. Plots size was 1.83 m x 1.83 m with a 0.3 m border between plots. Microbial inoculant (Worm Power) was applied at 50.9 L ha^-1 at 28, 56, and 84 days after seedling emergence. Untreated plots did not receive an application. Soil samples (1.9 cm diameter by 5.0 cm depth) were taken from each plot (8 sub-samples per individual plot) prior to seeding, and then again just prior to initial microbial inoculant application and then again 56 and 112 days post-emergence. Each soil core was sectioned to remove foliar material and the rhizosphere portion of each core will be used for environmental DNA extraction at the conclusion of the study.  Foliar tissue was removed by clipping the tissue at the chlorophyll line, placing in a coin envelope, and storing at -20 C for later testing. Partitioned rhizosphere samples were stored at -80 C before extraction. Turf performance was evaluated every 14 days for quality (1 to 9 scale; 9 = best), NDVI, and disease development. Clipping yield was assessed at 8 and 16 weeks post emergence.
  • All participating institutions agreed to repeat the experiment in 2018
  • The goal of this project is to create a standardized method for analyzing the turfgrass phytobiome. Currently UW-Madison employs a couple extra steps during the soil extraction procedure to analyze only soil that is most tightly adhered to the turfgrass root. No other institution conducts these additional steps and UW will compare their procedure with the Maryland procedure to see if any differences in microbiome results are observed.
  • By the fall of 2018 a standardized sample handling and extraction procedure should be in place and all the samples from 2017 and 2018 can be extracted and prepared for analysis.

1:15 – 3:00 PM – Research Updates from Participating Institutions

• University of Wisconsin – Madison - Michael Millican
• University of Minnesota – Florence Sessoms
• University of Maryland – Joe Doherty
• Rutgers University - Glenn Groben
• Rutgers University – Matt Elmore
• University of Connecticut – John Inguagiato
• University of Missouri – Lee Miller

Reinders Distribution – Jerry Kershasky

Outputs:

The multistate group project will provide a nice overview of the variability of soil turfgrass microbiomes across a large span of the Northeastern and Midwestern United States over a 2-year span. The data collected from this project will be submitted to a peer-reviewed journal. See prior update for more detailed information.

Funding of turf phytobiome research is difficult because the immediate applicability is not always clear and the sequencing and bioinformatics is expensive. However we continued to discuss potential funding avenues and brainstormed both public and private funding sources that can contribute to conducting this research.

The focus of the morning portion of the meeting was on applying turf phytobiome results for the end user. While there is no single method to accomplish this, the discussion was beneficial in developing studies and analyzing the results in a manner that will be beneficial for turfgrass managers.