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Soybean (Glycine max) is one of the most important crops in the United States. One production constraint includes the five diseases caused by species of Diaporthe, which can greatly affect yields. During 2014, approximately 1 million metric tons were lost in the U.S. and Canada from Diaporthe-associated diseases.

A research study used many inoculation techniques over five decades to study more than 150 Diaporthe isolates, that can be further separated into five types, from symptomatic soybean stem samples from Iowa and around the region. The researchers’ goal was to examine aggressiveness, disease severity, pathogen recovery and relative treatment effects of each of the five types of isolates to find the more effective ways to research the diseases, and ultimately combat them. Their study suggests different inoculation methods can have a significant impact on the study of symptom development in soybeans, with the toothpick and stem-wound inoculation methods being the most effective techniques on three of the five types to yield research data.

This study was published in 2019. To view the whole study, click here.