Database Research Summaries
2018 SDS: Resistance Screening, ILeVO Treatment, Survival on Corn Residue, and Pathogen Variability

calendar_today Year of Research: 2018
update Posted On: 12/04/2019
group Christopher Little (Principal Investigator, Kansas State University)
bookmark Kansas Soybean Commission

Research Focus

The focus of this project is to test multiple preventative methods against sudden death syndrome (SDS).

Objectives

  • Screen adapted Kansas’s germplasm and KSVT entries for SDS resistance using three high-throughput methods.
  • Examine the interaction between ILeVO seed treatment and planting date for SDS.
  • Determine modes of residue and soil borne survival of the SDS pathogen in Kansas’s production fields.
  • Determine pathogenic variability of Fusarium virguiliforme isolates from multiple Kansas fields.

Results

  1. Resistance to SDS is a combination of resistance to the toxin and root rot phases of the fungal infection. These two parts are related, but both are required to cause disease. Varieties that stay green and healthy when exposed to the fungus toxin have a good chance of resisting SDS.
  2. Planting late reduces SDS, but earlier planting gives a yield advantage that overcomes SDS yield impacts. ILeVO can improve yield when plants are under disease pressure, but only slightly. Use a SDS and SCN resistant variety even if seed treatments such as ILeVO are to be used.
  3. The SDS fungus can live in the soil as spores and mycelium, but does not appear to survive in corn residue.
  4. Isolates of the SDS fungus from different fields vary in their ability to cause disease. Some isolates are non-pathogenic, some are highly pathogenic, but most exhibit moderate pathogenicity.

Importance

This information is important because it provides soybean farmers with information on how to limit the impact of SDS on soybean fields.

For more information about this research project, please visit the National Soybean Checkoff Research Database.

Funded in part by the soybean checkoff.