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Sending out an SOS for soybeans

By Brian Meyer

Soybeans are assailed on all sides by diseases known widely among soybean growers by their acronyms. SDS. SCN. ASR.

SOS!

Leonor Leandro, assistant professor of plant pathology, is one of ISU’s scientists conducting research on multiple disease enemies of soybean with substantial funding from growers’ checkoff dollars provided by the Iowa Soybean Association.

In fact, Leandro was hired as part of a $500,000 financial
commitment from the Iowa Soybean Association to support new research in fungal pathogens.

“Most of my research on fungal diseases is currently funded by ISA,” Leandro says. “My research focuses on soybean rust and sudden death syndrome. With rust, the goal is to search for partial resistance to the disease by comparing the infection process on different plant hosts. This is so important because rust is a potentially devastating disease.”

Leandro and her colleagues are involved in several studies on sudden death syndrome ranging from the genetic level, to epidemiological studies, to a crop management study on row spacing and planting density.

“Sudden death syndrome is challenging because there are several environmental and soil factors that appear to affect its severity, including an interaction with the soybean cyst nematode,” Leandro says. “We need to better understand these interactions in order to improve disease management.”

The research of Leandro and many others currently on campus is the latest chapter in a continuing story of partnership between ISU and the Iowa Soybean Association.

Since 1972, the association has contributed $33,111,343 to ISU research to address production challenges that have limited soybean yield and producer profitability. In 2007 alone, the ISA provided more than $2 million for research.

“Because of this partnership, average soybean yield has increased 34 percent since the early 1980s due in part to improved production practices and disease and insect management recommendations developed and delivered by Iowa State researchers and extension,” says Ray Gaesser, the president of the Iowa Soybean Association who farms near Corning.

The partnership has yielded notable successes, including:
Soybean varieties that produce heart-healthy oils. Food-grade soybean varieties that international customers rely on.
An initiative to reduce yield loss from soybean cyst nematode, which resulted in hundreds of varieties with resistance.
The Iowa Soybean Rust Team, a public-private partnership that prepared Iowans for the arrival of a new pathogen, Asian soybean rust.
Financial support for the hiring of new faculty conducting applied research, including Leandro and ISU’s state soybean extension specialist Palle Pedersen.

“The goal of my research is to increase knowledge on the biology and epidemiology of these diseases, which is essential for effective disease management,” said Leandro. “We are particularly interested in supporting the development of resistant varieties. That’s why the work is important to Iowa soybean growers because it can result in improved soybean productivity.”

Leandro sees the partnership between ISU and the state’s soybean growers as very productive and beneficial.

“It really energizes and strengthens the interface between soybean growers, commodity groups and Iowa State researchers, and therefore supports our land-grant mission,” says Leandro. “It’s also helps stimulate collaborations within ISU and with other institutions and kept researchers focused on the needs of soybean growers.”