Screening of Early Maturing Soybean Accessions for Resistance against HG Type 2.5.7 of Soybean Cyst Nematode, Heterodera glycines

Abstract

Soybean cyst nematode (SCN; Heterodera glycines) is one of the devastating soybean pests worldwide, including the United States. Resistant cultivars combined with crop rotation are the primary methods for managing this nematode. SCN is known to have genetically diverse populations and can develop new virulent forms over time due to the continuous planting of cultivars derived from same source of resistance. Thus, identifying novel SCN resistant sources is of paramount importance for soybean breeding for nematode resistance. In this study, we screened 149 early maturity soybean [Glycine max (L.)] accessions for resistance to SCN HG type 2.5.7, which is one of the prevalent virulent SCN populations in North Dakota. SCN white females were extracted from individual plants of each accession after 35 days of growth in greenhouse conditions. The females were counted to determine a female index [FI = (average number of females on a tested accession/average number of females in Barnes, a susceptible soybean check) x 100]. The resistance response of each soybean accession was categorized as resistant, moderately resistant, moderately susceptible, and susceptible. Out of the soybean 149 accessions tested, only 13 were resistant in both runs of the experiments. The majority of screened soybean accessions were susceptible or moderately susceptible to the SCN HG type 2.5.7. The resistant soybean accessions identified in this study have the potential to be used in breeding SCN-resistant cultivars after further elucidation of the resistance genes or loci.