Influence of Soybean Monoculture on Phialophora gregata f. sp. sojae IGS-Genotype B Isolate Aggressiveness

Many soybean accessions described as resistant to brown stem rot (BSR) are preferentially colonized by isolates of Phialophora gregata f. sp. sojae genotype B. These isolates are generally considered less aggressive than isolates of P. gregata f. sp. sojae genotype A because they cause minor or no foliar symptoms characteristic of BSR. However, variation in aggressiveness has been observed among isolates of P. gregata f. sp. sojae genotype B. To determine if BSR-resistant soybean accessions would preferentially select for more aggressive isolates of P. gregata f. sp. sojae genotype B, monocultures of both BSR-resistant or BSR-susceptible accessions were established at the Arlington Agriculture Research Station, Arlington, WI. BSR-susceptible cv. Corsoy 79 and BSR-resistant plant introduction (PI) 567.157A were inoculated under greenhouse conditions with a total of 39 isolates of P. gregata f. sp. sojae genotype B obtained from the different monocultures. BSR severity was determined as the percentage of symptomatic foliar and internal stem tissue. Overall, BSR severity was low and did not exceed 20% for either foliar or stem symptoms. Isolates of P. gregata f. sp. sojae genotype B caused more severe foliar (P < 0.0001) and stem (P = 0.0008) symptoms of BSR on PI 567.157A than on Corsoy 79. Analysis of BSR stem symptom severity indicated an interaction (P = 0.0124) between soybean accession and the origin of isolates of P. gregata f. sp. sojae genotype B. Isolates of P. gregata f. sp. sojae genotype B obtained from the monoculture of a BSR-susceptible or -resistant accession were more aggressive than isolates from a mixed resistant and susceptible soybean monoculture. The relationship between the origin of isolate of P. gregata f. sp. sojae genotype B and isolate aggressiveness was more apparent for PI 567.157A than for Corsoy 79. Results of this study indicate that the monoculture of resistant or susceptible soybean favors an increase in the aggressiveness of isolates of P. gregata f. sp. sojae genotype B. Furthermore, results suggest that resistance to genotype A may be genetically different from resistance to genotype B.