Diaporthe phaseolorum var. caulivora, a Causal Agent for Both Stem Canker and Seed Decay on Soybean

Northern stem canker caused by Diaporthe phaseolorum var. caulivora (Dpc) has become a serious disease in soybean. The objectives of this study were to survey the existence of Dpc on soybean in Korea, and to examine the potential pathogenicity of Dpc in seed decay. One such isolate, SSLP-4, isolated from a field-grown plant of the Korean soybean cultivar Danbaekkong, was identified as Dpc, based on its morphological and molecular characteristics by sequences of internal transcribed spacer (ITS), translation elongation factor (TEF) 1-α and β-tubulin regions, as well as pathogenic analyses. Moreover, morphological and molecular analyses revealed that isolate SSLP-4 was nearly identical to Dpc strains from the United States. Pathogenicity tests on hypocotyls of soybean seedlings and detached leaves resulted in typical symptoms of soybean northern stem canker and inoculation on plants at R5-R7 stage caused seed decay. All results suggest that the Dpc strain SSLP-4 can cause both stem canker and seed decay on soybean. Thus, the SSLP-4 isolate has the potential to contribute greatly to understanding of host plant resistance mechanisms, both at vegetative and reproductive growth stages in soybean.