Effects of Soybean Shoot Pruning on Heterodera glycines Infection. S. C. Anand, Professor, Department of Agronomy, University of Missouri, Delta Center, Portageville MO 63873. I. A. Baker, and S. R. Koenning. Research Specialist, and Research Associate, Department of Agronomy, University of Missouri, Delta Center, Portageville MO 63873.. Plant Dis. 72:54-55. Accepted for publication 14 July 1987. Copyright 1988 The American Phytopathological Society. DOI: 10.1094/PD-72-0054.

Soybean seedlings being screened against Heterodera glycines were clipped below or above cotyledons or above unifoliates or were not pruned. The soybeans included both resistant and susceptible cultivars. Shoot pruning below the cotyledons resulted in almost no reproduction of the nematode females. Pruning above the unifoliates gave similar results as the controls, whereas pruning above the cotyledons resulted in fewer white females. Host reactions measured in terms of index of parasitism were not affected by shoot pruning. Shoot pruning can thus be used to reduce excessive foliage in soybean in greenhouse screening against the nematodes.

Keyword(s): disease screening, Glycine max, shoot pruning, soybean cyst nematode.