WARF TECHNOLOGIES

Sclerotinia stem rot, caused by the fungus Sclerotinia sclerotiorum, is a major disease of crop plants in the north-central United States and southern Canada. Although soybean cultivars have been identified that show partial resistance to Sclerotinia infection, resistance among commercial varieties is limited.

A team of UW-Madison plant pathologists has now selected and developed several soybean lines with high resistance to Sclerotinia stem rot. The team used a highly efficient petiole inoculation technique to evaluate soybean germplasm for resistance to S. sclerotiorum. Once resistant plants were identified, the researchers employed a selection procedure aimed at increasing the frequency of these plants in breeding lines. In this procedure, only seed from plants that survived multiple rounds of petiole inoculation with S. sclerotiorum was used to create breeding populations. These breeding lines can be used to create commercial soybean cultivars with superior resistance to Sclerotinia infection.

• Production of soybeans resistant to Sclerotinia stem rot

• Provides several soybean lines with superior resistance to Sclerotinia stem rot that can be used to develop commercial cultivars

Tech Fields

• Animals, Agriculture & Food : Plant varieties