Davis, E.L. and G.L. Tylka. 2000. Soybean cyst nematode disease. The Plant Health Instructor. DOI: 10.1094/PHI-I-2000-0725-01
Updated, 2005.

DISEASE:  Soybean cyst nematode disease

PATHOGEN:  Heterodera glycines

HOSTS:  soybean (primary economic host), other legumes

Authors
Eric L. Davis, North Carolina State University, Raleigh
Gregory L. Tylka, Iowa State University, Ames

Figure 1. Soybean field with large area of obvious soybean cyst nematode damage (Courtesy G. L. Tylka)

Microscopic worms burrowing through cells, injecting foreign compounds through hypodermic-needle-like structures, altering the basic biology of the cells being fed upon. Worms that grow so large in just a few weeks that they rupture out of the tissue they are feeding upon. Sound like a science fiction movie plot? Believe it or not, it is the basic biology of a widespread, serious pathogen of soybeans - the soybean cyst nematode.