Breeding of Multifunctional Grasses: Interactions of Fructan and Primary Carbohydrate Metabolism in

Anna Gasperl (Graz): Grasslands make up more than 70% of the world’s agricultural area. Used as forage, grasses are the basis of dairy and livestock production. They also deliver ecosystem services by their value for amenity and through their contribution to mitigating greenhouse gas emissions in intensive agriculture. Yet, the value of grasses as a source for bioenergy and biopolymerization is poorly appreciated. Increasing energy content and forage quality is a major breeding objective. Water-soluble carbohydrates are the main source of metabolisable energy and serve as substrates for biogas and bioenergy. High WSC contents are determined by fructans, low and medium molecular weight polymers of fructose. This presentation addresses mechanisms of fructan accumulation in ryegrass (Lolim perenne) and the development of novel high-throughput selection methods for grass breeding by combining classical near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS)