A product with deep roots in Mississippi State’s turfgrass program that hit the market this past year is now taking over lawns, golf courses and sports fields around the world.
Melodee Fraser, the first female graduate of MSU’s turfgrass management program, developed a Bermuda grass variety over recent years known as Sun Queen at Pure-Seed Testing, Inc. in 2011. Fraser, now the director of research for PST-East, discovered her passion for turfgrass research as an MSU undergraduate in the 1980s.
“I grew up on the golf course, where my dad worked as a superintendent, and I pursued turfgrass management intending to follow in his footsteps,” she said. “But in my studies at MSU, I discovered a profound interest in plant research and breeding.”
After earning her Ph.D. from Rutgers University, Fraser joined PST and rekindled her interest in the Mississippi Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station Bermuda grass breeding program directed by now retired MAFES senior research associate Wayne Philley. Fraser worked with Philley as a graduate student. In 2010, PST and MSU made a legal agreement allowing the incorporation to crossbreed Philly’s plant material collection with PST’s Bermuda grass.
In 2013, testing began at MSU and at PST-East in Rolesville, North Carolina. Sun Queen emerged as a top performer and was soon entered into the USDA’s four-year National Turf Evaluation Program trials performing well in 18 locations throughout the country. Now commercially available, Sun Queen, owned jointly by MAFES and PST, has received Plant Variety Protection through the USDA. Sun Queen is marketed by Pure Seed in Canby, Oregon and by Atlas Turf International in LaGrange, Georgia.
Jim Mitchell, a licensing associate with MSU’s Office of Technology Management, planted Sun Queen for local showcasing in front of Advantage Doors in West Point, a location with high visibility and convenient accessibility from Highway 45.
“Sun Queen is unique because, unlike most Bermuda grasses, it is planted from a seed,” Mitchell said. “It’s less expensive than its competitors, quick to germinate and has many of the characteristics associated with vegetatively propagated sod varieties. It is also more aesthetically pleasing than a typical Bermuda grass.”
John Holmes, president of Atlas Turf International, sees Sun Queen as a disrupter in the turfgrass industry.
“Seeded Bermuda grasses have not been widely accepted in the professional markets for golf and sports fields,” he said, “but Sun Queen’s properties make it equal to vegetatively grown [sod] farmed products. We think it will speak for itself and begin to change minds.”
Holmes, whose company jointly markets PST’s warm-season products, expects demand for Sun Queen to rise, particularly in drought-stressed regions, citing its heat and drought tolerance as key advantages.
“The genetics emerging from MSU’s turfgrass program are exceptional,” he said. “Their scientists are thinking about tomorrow’s global challenges as well as today’s and facing them with persistence and dedication.”