| Crop | Soybean |
|---|---|
| Start Date | 2012 |
| End Date | 2015 |
| Principal Investigator | McLaren, Debra , Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada |
| MPSG Financial Support | $16,000 |
| Total Project Funding | $24,000 |
| Report | Final Report 2015 |
Research Objectives
- Evaluate commercial crops of soybeans in Manitoba and Alberta for root rot
- Isolate and identify fungal colonies from root rot lesions
- Conduct pathogenicity tests for Fusarium isolates from infected soybean root tissue
Project Description
Root rot is a serious disease of soybean in Canada for which successful control has been elusive. In a preliminary examination of soybean roots collected from one Manitoba field and four Alberta fields in 2011, Fusarium species were predominantly isolated from infected roots. The long-term and most economical approach for managing Fusarium root rot is the use of resistant cultivars, but soybean cultivars with high levels of resistance are not yet available. Furthermore, little information is available on the root rot pathogens associated with this crop in western Canada. To acquire new information on root rot pathogens in Manitoba and Alberta, commercial soybean fields were surveyed (2012-2014) for the incidence and severity of root rot. Root rot was observed in all fields surveyed and the most frequently isolated pathogens from symptomatic roots were Fusarium spp. They were identified using visual assessment, microscopic examination and morphological assessment and included F. acuminatum, F. avenaceum, F. oxysporum, F. solani, F. redolens, F. tabacinum as well as additional, but less prevalent, Fusarium spp. A new species, F. proliferatum, has been reported in the USA, but was first reported in Alberta as a result of this survey. This research provides new information on Fusarium root rot pathogens in order to screen for host resistance and design effective control measures.