Ohio State Develops
WOOSTER, Ohio Sclero
tinia stem rot may be the No. 2
soybean disease in Ohio, but that
might not be the case for too long.
Plant pathologists at Ohio State
University have developed a la
boratory procedure to identify
varieties that do a good job of
withstanding the disease. Plant
breeders will be able to use that in
formation to develop varieties that
give farmers a fighting chance in
controlling sclerotinia.
Ohio fanners would welcome
(he development of tolerant varie
ties because they incur $26 mil
lion in annual losses to sclerotinia,
more commonly known as white
mold. The disease is second to
phytophthora root rot in cutting
soybean yields.
A senior researcher at Ohio
State University’s Ohio Agricul
tural Research and Development
Center in Wooster, Art Olah, said
the test is a two-week procedure
that infects plants in order to de
termine their reactions to the dis
ease. A researcher implants an in
fected wheat seed in a 10-day-old
soybean cotyledon, and then puts
it in a chamber that produces 100
percent humidity.
The chamber’s environment re
plicates the incubation process
that occurs in farmers’ fields, Olah
said. Cold, humid nights during
the plant’s flowering stage are the
best conditions for spreading the
disease, he said.
After 24 hours, the scientist re
moves the plants from the cham
ber to see the effects of the dis
ease. Less-tolerant plants turn
brown, wither up and die, while
tolerant ones remain healthy.
Although the test fills some
gaps in knowledge, it doesn’t an
swer everything scientists want to
know, Olah said. For example, it
does not identify which varieties
still get good yields in spite of in
fection. To study that, scientists
would have to get yield data from
field trials.
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However, field research can
have setbacks that don't get the
answers that easily, Olah said.
Scientists are at the mercy of the
weather for sclerotinia to appear.
“If the weather conditions are
not right for the disease, there
would be no disease problem in
the field,” Olah said. “Then we
wouldn’t know if the plants were
resistant,” he said.
Identification of varieties’ tol
erances will be a good tool for
plant breeders when they try to de
velop new seed lines. Two univer
sity-plant breeders, Steve St Mar
tin and Ron Fioritto are doing ex
actly that thanks to the lab test
data. It generally takes about three
to five years for breeders to come
up with varieties that do a good
job against sclerotinia, Olah said.
Olah said he has already sub
jected more than 60 soybean
varieties to the test In addition,
the research center is using the test
on 7,000 Chinese soybean varie
ties from the U.S. Department of
Agriculture’s Plant Introduction
Center. Cooperating Midwestern
universities will use the data to
identify promising varieties to test
in the field.
“Who knows? We might find a
variety totally resistant in this ma
terial,” Olah said.
Sclerotinia outbreaks are not
widespread across the state even
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in severe years. The disease ap
pears in a spotty fashion in indivi
dual fields. What makes it tough
to control is that there are no re
sistant varieties, and chemical
treatments arc too expensive to be
economical.
Furthermore, modem cultural
practices that otherwise increase
yields also create conditions ripe
for a sclerodnia outbreak, Olah
said. For example, farmers have
been reducing soybean row widths
in the past decades so plant foliage
will cover rows quicker for better
weed control. However, those
conditions also create a humid
greenhouse effect that helps
spread the disease, he said.
Olah said the ongoing research
with other Midwestern universi
ties is looking at the relationship
Of sclerodnia infection to row
widths, no-till practices, rotational
practices and levels of crop resi
dues left on field surfaces.
“We know it is a lot more com
plicated than we originally
thought,” Olah said. “Our whole
goal is to get away from chemicals
to control it If we can find cultur
al practices and varieties that are
resistant, that’ll be great”
Sclerodnia appears as a white,
cotton-like substance on the soy
bean stem. The fungi overwinter
in black, protective bodies called
sclerotia. During the high humidi-
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ty of the growing season, germin
ating sclerotia emit spores, which
can cause infection if the plant is
flowering. Spores feed on the pet
als, and that sets the infection pro
cess in motion.
Olah said scientists aren’t sure
why some varieties seem to be
more tolerant of sclerodnia than
others. However, several factors
can promote its spread. Weakened
stems may cause the plant to fall
over and infect nearby rows. Or,
sclerotia may become mixed with
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Three soybean industry organi
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They are the Ohio'Soybean Coun
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