Vegetable and Fruit Crops Pathology

I. Soybean Rust

Asian soybean rust has been recently diagnosed in the United States (US). Asian soybean rust, cuased by Phakopsora pachyrhizi, has been known to drastically reduce yields in Asia. In areas where the pathogen occurs commonly, yield losses up to 80% have been reported. The pathogen has been limited to the Eastern hemisphere until it was found in Hawaii in 1994. Currently, the distribution of P. pachyrhizi includes Africa, Asia, Australia, South America, Hawaii, and southern US.

P. pachyrhizi infects over 95 species of plants from more than 42 genera, including soybean and related Glycine species. Included in the list are many of the wild and edible legumes. The full host range of both rust species has not been clearly identified and may be complicated by pathotypes and differential reactions within host species. Included in the list is Kudzu (Pueraria lobata), which is widespread in the U.S. and could serve as an inoculum reservoir or bridge host for P. pachyrhizi in the southern U.S. Kudzu, growing along roadsides and in ditch banks in Brazil and Paraguay, is severely infected with rust and shows no apparent loss of plant vigor. The large number of host species increases the likelihood that this pathogen may survive and over winter in the southern US, as well as in Central America.

For more information on soybean rust, refer to the following websites:
http://www.apsnet.org/online/feature/rust/
http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/infocenter/topic/soybeanrust/

II. Identifying and Manageing Cucurbit Pests

The publication Identifying and Managing Cucurbit Pests; Diseses, Insects, and Weeds in now available. To Place on order call 1-800-345-6087 or visit the website www.PublicationsPlus.uiuc.edu. For more information, click here.

March 11, 2005
	I. Soybean Rust Asian soybean rust has been recently diagnosed in the United States (US). Asian soybean rust, cuased by Phakopsora pachyrhizi, has been known to drastically reduce yields in Asia. In areas where the pathogen occurs commonly, yield losses up to 80% have been reported. The pathogen has been limited to the Eastern hemisphere until it was found in Hawaii in 1994. Currently, the distribution of P. pachyrhizi includes Africa, Asia, Australia, South America, Hawaii, and southern US. P. pachyrhizi infects over 95 species of plants from more than 42 genera, including soybean and related Glycine species. Included in the list are many of the wild and edible legumes. The full host range of both rust species has not been clearly identified and may be complicated by pathotypes and differential reactions within host species. Included in the list is Kudzu (Pueraria lobata), which is widespread in the U.S. and could serve as an inoculum reservoir or bridge host for P. pachyrhizi in the southern U.S. Kudzu, growing along roadsides and in ditch banks in Brazil and Paraguay, is severely infected with rust and shows no apparent loss of plant vigor. The large number of host species increases the likelihood that this pathogen may survive and over winter in the southern US, as well as in Central America. For more information on soybean rust, refer to the following websites: http://www.apsnet.org/online/feature/rust/ http://www.plantmanagementnetwork.org/infocenter/topic/soybeanrust/ II. Identifying and Manageing Cucurbit Pests The publication Identifying and Managing Cucurbit Pests; Diseses, Insects, and Weeds in now available. To Place on order call 1-800-345-6087 or visit the website www.PublicationsPlus.uiuc.edu. For more information, click here.