Resistance and partial resistance to Phytophthora sojae in early maturity group soybean plant introductions

Phytophthora sojae, an important yield limiting pathogen of soybean, causes seed, seedling, root, and stem rots. Losses caused by P. sojae can be controlled by both major gene and partial resistance. Early maturity group (MG) soybeans are an increasingly important crop in northwestern Minnesota and eastern North Dakota. Early MG plant introductions (PIs) from the USDA Soybean Germplasm Collection and early MG public and private cultivars were evaluated for resistance and partial resistance to P. sojae. Of the 113 PIs, PI438445, and PI438454 exhibited resistance to P. sojae races 4, 7, 17, and 28 indicating they may possess either Rps1c, Rps1k, previously unidentified or multiple resistance gene to Phytophthora sojae (Rps) genes. Because they exhibited partial resistance equal to or greater than the standard check cultivar Conrad, three early MG soybean cultivars (MN0902, MN0302, and 91B53) were selected as standard checks to evaluate early MG PIs for partial resistance. Sixty-nine PIs were evaluated for partial resistance to P. sojae races 7 and 25 using the inoculum layer method. Of this group of PIs, 22 had the same level of partial resistance as Conrad to P. sojae race 7 while 19 had the same degree of partial resistance to race 25. Twelve PIs had same level of partial resistance as Conrad to both P. sojae races 7 and 25. The PIs and cultivars identified in this study will be of great value in developing early MG soybean cultivars suitable for planting in Canada and the northern United States.