Interaction of anthracnose and charcoal rot on green stem incidence;
Curtis Hill ( University of Illinois), Glen Hartman ( USDA/ARS-University of Illinois) ($20000). The Project Manager's email is curthill@illinois.edu.
Key Words: Charcoal Rot, Green Stem Disorder, Anthracnose, Soybean Disease Interactions
Although the “Green Stem Disorder” effect on soybean yields has not been established, it is a problem that complicates soybean harvesting and has increasingly become a nuisance for soybean producers. When encountered in the field at harvest time, producers often leave patches affected by the disorder uncut until frost eventually kills the stems.
The cause of the “Green Stem Disorder” is unknown, however, we have found that fungicide application can increase the incidence of green stem disorder, especially on cultivars sensitive to the disorder, suggesting that fungi are involved in the disorder. We have also found that the plant pathogenic fungi causing anthracnose and charcoal rot appear to be inversely associated with the disorder. The pathogen causing anthracnose is the predominant fungus isolated from stems showing green stem disorder. In contrast, the pathogen causing charcoal rot is the predominant fungus isolated from normal ripe soybean stems. We have recently developed quantitative PCR assays to measure the colonization of soybean plants by the charcoal rot and the anthracnose pathogens inside plants with or without green stem disorder. The proposed research will determine if the interaction of two fungal pathogens that cause anthracnose and charcoal rot will increase or decrease green stem disorder on cultivars that are sensitive or insensitive to the disorder.
This project is funded by Illinois Soybean Board
Website is funded by the soybean checkoff
