Don Hershman, Extension Plant Pathologist, University of Kentucky
Soybean sudden death syndrome (SDS) caused by the root-rotting, soil-borne fungus Fusarium virguliforme, is beginning to show up in soybean fields across the state. To my knowledge, all of the sightings are in patches of plants or individual plants, and are not field-wide. SDS has been seen in Kentucky each year, to one degree or another, since 1985.
SDS (Fig. 1) is evident first in foliage where plants show yellow blotches between the veins.
Sometimes this this early symptom can look almost virus like. In most cases, blotches eventually coalesce and result in a yellow and brown discoloration between the veins, but the veins remain green. In severe cases, the leaflets will fall off, but the petioles will remain attached to the plant. Foliar symptoms are the result of a toxin produced by the fungus in diseased root tissue.
Soybean sudden death syndrome (SDS) caused by the root-rotting, soil-borne fungus Fusarium virguliforme, is beginning to show up in soybean fields across the state. To my knowledge, all of the sightings are in patches of plants or individual plants, and are not field-wide. SDS has been seen in Kentucky each year, to one degree or another, since 1985.
SDS (Fig. 1) is evident first in foliage where plants show yellow blotches between the veins.
Fig 1. Range of SDS foliar symptoms.
