Field experiments were conducted at locations in northern and southern Illinois, central Iowa, and central Missouri from 1997 to 1999 to investigate the effects of Heterodera glycines on soybean growth, development, and yield. A wide range of infestation levels was present at all locations. Two locally adapted cultivars, one resistant to H. glycines, were grown at each location. Cultivars were planted in alternating four-row strips with 76 cm between rows. For each cultivar, 20 1-m-long single-row plots were sampled every 2 weeks starting 4 weeks after planting. Infection by H. glycines reduced plant height and leaf and stem weight on the resistant cultivars in the first 12 weeks after planting, and delayed pod and seed development 12 to 14 weeks after planting. Biomass accumulation was not reduced on the susceptible cultivars until 10 weeks after planting; reduction in pod and seed development occurred throughout the reproductive stages. Susceptible cultivars produced significantly lower yields than resistant cultivars, but the yield reductions were not accompanied by visually detectable symptoms.

Management of the soybean cyst nematode (SCN) relies heavily on use of SCN-resistant soybean varieties to limit nematode reproduction and minimize yield loss. For Iowa, almost all SCN-resistant soybean varieties contain SCN resistance genes from a breeding line named Plant Introduction (PI) 88788. Iowa State University conducts experiments to evaluate numerous SCN-resistant and three to four SCN-susceptible soybean varieties in up to nine field experiments across Iowa each year. Data on SCN population density, virulence (SCN race and HG type), soybean yield, precipitation, and growing degree days from more than 25,000 four-row plots in field experiments conducted from 2001 to 2015 were analyzed to determine how these factors affected SCN reproduction and yield. SCN population densities were positively correlated with temperatures and negatively associated with precipitation during the growing seasons, indicating that SCN reproduction was greatest in hot, dry years. Over the years, virulence of SCN populations on PI 88788 increased in the fields in which the experiments were conducted, resulting in increased end-of-season SCN population densities and reduced yields of SCN-resistant soybean varieties with the PI 88788 source of resistance. These results indicate that soybean yield loss caused by SCN on resistant varieties with the common PI 88788 source of resistance likely will increase as virulence of SCN populations increases unless new sources of resistance become widely available and used in the future.

The soybean cyst nematode (Heterodera glycines) is considered the most damaging pathogen of soybean in the USA and Canada, and causes considerable yield loss in many other soybean-producing countries. It is believed to have been introduced into North America from Asia. The map of the known distribution of H. glycines in the USA and Canada has been updated for 2014. Maps of its known distribution in past years illustrate the spread of the pathogen since its initial discovery in the United States in 1954. Accepted for publication 20 April 2014. Published 27 May 2014.

No abstract

In the United States and Canada, the most damaging pathogen of soybean, Glycine max, is the soybean cyst nematode (SCN), Heterodera glycines. Plant health professionals working for universities and state and provincial departments of agriculture in the United States and Canada are queried periodically about counties and rural municipalities that are newly known to be infested with SCN in their states and provinces. Such a census was conducted in 2020, and the results were compared with results of the most recent survey, published in 2017. Between 2017 and 2020, 55 new SCN-infested counties were reported from 11 U.S. states. Also, 24 new SCN-infested counties and rural municipalities were identified in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec. A map of the known distribution of SCN in these two countries was updated. The results reveal steady expansion of the distribution of SCN throughout the United States and Canada, and the pest almost certainly will continue to spread among and within soybean-producing areas of these countries in the future. Therefore, continued scouting and soil sampling for detection of new SCN infestations are warranted as the first step toward successfully managing the pathogen.