Progress 01/01/03 to 09/30/05
Outputs
Soybean rust activities this year have involved spore trapping, fungicide tests, helping organize state and national meetings, and presentations at state, national and international meetings. The spore trapping project was done in cooperation with Syngenta. Syngenta worked with researchers in 13 states who maintained spore traps during the growing season. These researchers sent slides from the spore traps to me weekly for evaluation. I had two technicians examine the slide under a microscope and determine if soybean rust-like spores were present. We received 1,263 slides from 96 spore traps in 13 states. We found soybean rust-like spores at least once from each state and on a total of 201 slides. Soybean rust only developed in five states and the diseased progressed significantly only in Georgia and Alabama. In Georgia and Alabama, we found soybean rust-like spores 5 to 77 days before they found soybean rust in the adjacent soybean fields, on average 30 days before
rust was found. However, at one site in Georgia, we found soybean rust-like spores 30 days after they found rust in the plot. At one location in Mississippi, they found rust and destroyed the plot with 48 hours, but we had not found soybean rust-like spores in that trap. Several fungicide tests were conducted for soybean rust. Because the weather was very hot and very dry, there was no soybean rust in these tests or in Arkansas and very little foliar disease on soybean of any kind. Even in the absence of foliar disease, applications of azoxystrobin or pyraclostrobin increased yields over the control. Besides research, I gave soybean rust presentations at local grower meetings, helped arrange the National Symposium on Soybean Rust and spoke there and also presented a soybean rust talk in Argentina at the Pan American Soybean Rust Conference.
Impacts
The spore trap project revealed that spores of the soybean rust pathogen could be trapped before disease developed and that the fungus was very widely spread last year even though the disease was not. Presentations and organization of meetings helped to inform the scientific community and the public about soybean rust.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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Progress 01/01/04 to 12/30/04
Outputs
Soybean rust was found for the first time in Arkansas on 12 November. Plants from the field were brought to the laboratory and examined for sporulating pustules. None were sporulating, but incubating the leaves in a moist chamber overnight resulted abundant sporulation. These spores were used to inoculate seedlings and resulted in rust pustules. Spores were collected from the field plants and the seedlings for long-term storage. Permits for working with the pathogen were obtained. Planning for research on soybean rust began.
Impacts
Obtaining viable spores of the soybean rust pathogen gives us the opportunity to develop our growth chamber inoculation methods and material that we can begin to conduct research on various aspects of soybean rust as environmental interactions, fungicide efficiency, and cultivar resistance.
Publications
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Progress 01/01/03 to 12/31/03
Outputs
I applied for a Fulbritght Alumni Initiativfe Award with Dr. Antonio Ivancovich of plant pathologist with INTA in Argentina and Dr. Pengyin Chen, University of Arkansas soybean breeder. The proposal was entitled "Incorporation of resistance to rust and other diseases into South American and US soybean cultivars." In the proposal, South American and US soybean cultivars would be screened for resistance to rust in Argentina and breeding would be begun to incorporate rust resistance into elite cultivars from both countries. The grant was not funded.
Impacts
Had the grant been funded, rust resistant cultivars from both the US and South America would have been developed. This would immediately help growers in South America who are now facing rust epidemics and would provide rust resistant cultivars adapted to the US that could be used if rust appears here.
Publications
- No publications reported this period
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