U.S. flagAn official website of the United States government
                    Here's how you know **Official websites use .gov**
                            
                            A **.gov** website belongs to an official government organization in the United States.
 **Secure .gov websites use HTTPS**
                            
                            A **lock** (                            
                              A locked padlock                                                      
                            
                            ) or **https://** means you’ve safely connected to the .gov website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.


Menu Agricultural Research Service
						
                    U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 close



Research
                Research Home
                            National Programs
                            Research Projects
                            Scientific Manuscripts
                            International Engagement
                            Scientific Software/Models
                            Databases and Datasets
                            Office of Scientific Quality Review
            Media
                News & Features
                            Multimedia
                            Briefing Room
                            Down on the Farm
                            Press Room
                            Science in Your Shopping Cart
                            Scientific Discoveries
                            Tellus
                            Under the Microscope
            About ARS
                About ARS Home
                            Staff Directory
                            Labs and Research Centers (Map)
                            Headquarter Offices
                            Organizational Chart
                            Employee Services (REE Employees Only)
                            Office of Outreach, Diversity, and Equal Opportunity
            Work With Us
                Work With Us Home
                            ARS Vacancies at USAJOBS
                            Careers at ARS Information
                            Scientific Collaborations
                            Extramural Agreements
                            1890 Faculty Research Sabbatical ProgramSearch small
                    Search
            
            ARS Home
                                About ARS
                                Contact Us




ARS Home News & Events News Articles Research News 2002





- ARS News & Events
- AgResearch Magazine
- Image Gallery
- News
- Search News & Events
- Pesticide Drift May Endanger Pollinators
- ARS Seeks a Fire Ant Fix
- Scientific Discoveries 2024
- ARS Featured Photos
- Down on the Farm
- Facebook Live Events
- Food and Nutrition Research Briefs
- News Archive
- Science in Your Shopping Cart
- Scientific Discoveries
- Social Media
- Under the Microscope
- AgResearch magazine
- ARS at Work
- ARS Memorial Lectures
- ARS Science Hall of Fame
- Citrus Disease (Huanglongbing)
- Contact Office of Communications
- Plant Hardiness Zone Map
- Mobile Apps
- Public Affairs Contacts
- Publications and Other Resources
- USDA Blog
- Videos

Archived Page
 This page has been archived and is being provided for reference purposes only. The page is no longer being updated, and therefore, links on the page may be invalid.
 Doubling Wildrye's Chromosomes Brightens Pasture Grass' Future By Don ComisDecember 23, 2002 It's amazing what 14 more chromosomes can do for Russian wildrye, a pasture grass introduced to the U.S. Northern Plains area from Siberia in 1927. John Berdahl, a plant geneticist with the Agricultural Research Service, has created Russian wildrye plants that are called tetraploids because they have double the usual 14 chromosomes. The extra chromosomes result in a plant that produces larger seeds and much more robust seedlings, solving the biggest barrier to wider use of the grass. Russian wildrye helps keep cattle well fed by providing forage with higher digestibility and protein, especially in late summer and fall when other grasses, such as crested wheatgrass, tend to become less nutritious. But farmers and ranchers still often choose those other grasses because they're easier to grow. Berdahl, plant physiologist Al Frank and colleagues at the ARS Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory in Mandan, N.D., hope to change that by using tetraploids to breed new Russian wildrye varieties. They expect to one day see them planted extensively on marginal land in the Northern Plains and Intermountain Region. Berdahl and colleagues created the new plants without any gene transfer or sophisticated biotechnology. Instead, they induced chromosome doubling by pressurizing flower-bearing stalks in canisters filled with nitrous oxide gas. Nitrous oxide is commonly known as "laughing gas." The nitrous oxide technique enables production of numerous tetraploid seeds and development of genetically diverse populations from which to select superior plants. It will take about five years to release the first tetraploid Russian wildrye variety to seed growers. Then it will take a few more years for seed growers to produce enough pedigreed seed for sale to farmers, bringing the new variety to market around 2010. ARS is the U.S. Department of Agriculture's chief scientific research agency.


Return to top


Research
                            Media
                            About ARS
                            Work With Us


Connect with ARS Sign up


ARS Home
                            USDA.gov
                            Plain Writing
                            Policies & Links
                            Civil Rights Statements
                            FOIA
                            Accessibility Statement
                            Privacy Policy
                            Non-Discrimination Statement
                            Quality of Information
                            USA.gov
                            WhiteHouse.gov