Salt marshes are transitional areas between land and water, occurring along the intertidal shore of estuaries and surrounding areas where salinity ranges from near ocean strength in low lying marshes to near fresh in upland marshes.
Smooth cordgrass (Spartina alterniflora Loisel.), a perennial C4 grass dominating the salt marsh in tidal wetlands, is used extensively for preventing soil erosion and restoring wetlands along the Atlantic and Gulf Coast of the United States. Like most salt-marsh plants, S. alterniflora is a halophyte because it can tolerate salt water, a feat that most terrestrial plants cannot achieve. In addition, hollow ducts in their stems allow air to diffuse to the roots buried deep in gooey mud that is largely devoid of oxygen. Flexible stems, small size and tough, fibrous roots enable them to stand firm against water current and wind. It has also the ability to withstand high heat. Few animals eat this plant, but many animals and plants live on it or on the marsh surface protected by its roots and stalks. Efforts to protect and conserve salt marshes are now on all around the Gulf coasts. Most coastal wetland plants reproduce and spread vegetatively. It involves high cost to revegetate in the eroded coastal areas and to create new marshes. The clonal reproduction is extensively practiced through production of rhizomes, which may contribute to a decline in genetic diversity.
Sea oats (Uniola paniculata), a perennial C4 grass, is an excellent dune stabilizer due to its ability to trap moving sand and survive in high sand temperature. Production of sea oats plants in large numbers has been a challenge for restoration project managers due to poor seed set, poor seed germination, and seed dormancy. Large scale multiplication of sea oats seedlings through development of an efficient micropropagation technology offers an attractive alternative to accelerate the restoration projects.
Researchers in the Coastal Plants Genetics Laboratory are applying novel breeding, genetics, and genomics tools and technologies to expedite the development of improved plant materials in coastal plants through elucidation of the molecular basis of various attributes essential for adaptation, survival, productivity, and large scale marsh restoration.
