Rupe, J. and L. Sconyers. 2008. Soybean Rust. The Plant Health Instructor. DOI: 10.1094/PHI-I-2008-0401-01

DISEASE:  Soybean Rust

PATHOGEN:  Phakopsora pachyrhizi and P. meibomiae

HOSTS: Soybean and kudzu are the most important hosts, but there are over 90 other hosts known for P. pachyrhizi. Some of the hosts are listed in Table 1.

Authors
John Rupe
University of Arkansas
Layla Sconyers
University of Georgia

Soybean rust caused by P. pachyrhizi has been a serious disease in Asia for many decades. It appeared in Africa in 1997, and in the Americas in 2001. Before it was first found in the continental USA in late 2004, probably brought in by a hurricane, it was considered such a threat that it was listed as a possible weapon of bioterrorism. Soybean rust cannot overwinter in areas with freezing temperatures, but it can spread by wind rapidly over such large distances, its development can be so explosive, and it can cause such rapid loss of leaves that it is now one of the most feared diseases in the world's soybean-growing areas.

Soybeans infected and not infected with Asian soybean rust, caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi, in a fungicide trial in Attapulgus, GA, 2006. (Photo by R. C. Kemerait, Jr.)