The objectives of this study were to evaluate the influence of soybean cultivar of two maturity groups, early/semi-early (E) or intermediate (I), on the management of Asian soybean rust (ASR) with fungicides and yield. Field trials were conducted during the 2006/07 and 2007/08 growing seasons. Seven cultivars of the two groups were tested in the first season and eight in the second season. All cultivars had plots that were treated (T) or non-treated (NT) with a commercial mixture of pyraclostrobin + epoxiconazole. ASR severity (%) was visually assessed several times during the crop cycle and yield (kg ha-1) was determined at harvest. Values of the standardized area under the disease progress curve (AUDPC) calculated from the severity assessments was higher in 2007/08 than in 2006/07, but no differences were found between cultivars of the E and I maturity groups. Differences in yield between between T and NT plots were lower in cultivars of the E group than those of the I group in both the 2006/07 (37.6% and 52.8% respectively) and the 2007/08 season (56.9% and 85.0%, respectively). A higher stability in yield was found for cultivars of the E maturity group compared to those of the I group.

Este trabalho comparou o progresso da ferrugem asiática da soja na cultivar suscetível BRS 133 e na linhagem resistente CB06-953/963, com o gene de resistência Rpp4, sob tratamentos fungicidas em diferentes estádios de desenvolvimento. Foram medidas as variáveis porcentagem de desfolha, coeficiente de dano (CD) e limiar de dano econômico (ETL), as duas últimas calculadas a partir da severidade da doença e produtividade de grãos. Os ensaios foram realizados em condições de campo nos anos 2006-2007 em uma época de semeadura (Experimento I) e em 2007-2008 em duas épocas de semeadura (Experimentos II e III). O delineamento experimental utilizado foi blocos ao acaso, com dez tratamentos e quatro repetições. Houve redução do progresso da doença em CB06-953/963 nos três experimentos realizados. Os valores de CD e ETL foram superiores na linhagem resistente em comparação à suscetível. No experimento II, o ETL para CB06-953/963 foi atingido 13,3 dias após o registrado para BRS 133. As aplicações fungicidas apresentaram maiores benefícios na produtividade e redução da desfolha na cultivar suscetível. Sob condições de alta pressão de inóculo (Experimento III), três e quatro aplicações de fungicidas resultaram em ganho na produtividade (P<0.05) nos dois genótipos de soja quando comparados aos controles sem aplicação de fungicidas. As aplicações de fungicidas, mesmo quando realizadas mais tardiamente nas cultivares resistentes, auxiliaram no controle da SR e na manutenção da alta produtividade.

This work compared development of soybean rust (SR) on the susceptible cultivar BRS 133 and on the resistant line CB06-953/963 (Rpp4 gene) following different fungicide treatments applied in different developmental stages. The assessed variables were percent plant defoliation, coefficient of damage (CD) and economic threshold level (ETL), the latter two calculated from disease severity ratings and yield. Experiments were conducted in the field during the 2006-2007 growing season with one sowing date (Experiment I) and in 2007-2008 with two sowing dates (Experiments II and III). The experimental design was a randomized complete block with ten treatments and four replications. Overall, the Rpp4 gene in the resistant line was effective in reducing development of SR in all three experiments. The values of CD and ETL were higher for the resistant line than for the susceptible cultivar. The resistant line needed 13.3 days longer than the susceptible cultivar to reach the ETL in Experiment II. Fungicide applications were more effective in protecting yield and minimizing defoliation in the susceptible cultivar than in the resistant line. Under high inoculum pressure (Experiment III), three and four fungicide sprays applied during the season resulted in significantly higher yields (P<0.05) in both soybean genotypes compared with the untreated controls. Late season fungicide applications reduced rust severity and increased the yield of the resistant cultivar.

Genetic similarity among soybean genotypes was studied by applying the amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) technique to 317 soybean cultivars released in Brazil from 1962 to 1998. Genetic similarity (GS) coefficients were estimated using the coefficient of Nei and Li (Nei and Li 1979), and the cultivars were clustered using the unweighted pair-group method with averages (UPGMA). The parentage coefficients of 100 cultivars released between 1984 and 1998 were calculated and correlated with the genetic similarity obtained by the markers. The genetic similarity coefficients varied from 0.17 to 0.97 (x = 0.61), with 56.8% of the coefficients being above 0.60 and only 9.7% equal to or less than 0.50. The similarity coefficients have remained constant during the last three decades. Dendrogram interpretation was hindered by the large number of cultivars used, but it was possible to detect groups of cultivars formed as expected from their genealogy. Another dendrogram, composed of 63 cultivars, allowed a better interpretation of the groups. Parentage coefficients among the 100 cultivars varied from zero to one (x = 0.21). However, no significant correlation (r = 0.12) was detected among the parentage coefficients and the AFLP genetic similarity. The results show the efficiency of AFLP markers in large scale studies of genetic similarity and are discussed in relation to soybean breeding in Brazil.

Nas áreas produtoras de feijão (Phaseolus vulgaris) do Estado do Paraná observa-se anualmente a ocorrência do vírus do mosaico em desenho do feijoeiro (Bean rugose mosaic virus, BRMV), principalmente em infecções mistas com o vírus do mosaico dourado do feijoeiro (Bean golden mosaic virus, BGMV), acarretando maior severidade de sintomas e causando perdas na produção. Recentemente constatou-se a presença do vírus do mosaico severo do caupi (Cowpea severe mosaic virus, CPSMV) associado a sintomas de queima do broto em plantações de soja (Glycine max) na região de Londrina, sendo este um fato novo no Estado. Neste trabalho, parte do RNA2 de dois comovirus isolados de soja no Paraná foram clonados e sequenciados, sendo 600 pares de bases (pb) do BRMV-PR e 594 pb do CPSMV-PR. Posteriormente, as seqüências correspondentes de aminoácidos foram comparadas com seis seqüências de vírus do gênero Comovirus depositadas no GenBank. Com base nestes dados observou-se que o segmento do RNA2 do isolado CPSMV-PR apresentou homologia de 85% com parte de uma seqüência já conhecida do RNA2 do CPSMV, enquanto que o segmento do RNA2 do isolado BRMV-PR apresentou homologia de 39% com o CPSMV, e de 44% com o Bean pod mottle virus (BPMV). Este trabalho apresenta pela primeira vez dados de sequenciamento parcial do BRMV, o que poderá contribuir para sua completa caracterização molecular e para o estabelecimento de estratégias para obtenção de plantas resistentes ao vírus.

In bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) producing areas of Paraná State, Bean rugose mosaic virus (BRMV) has been found in mixed infections with Bean golden mosaic virus (BGMV) increasing the severity of symptoms and crop losses. The association of Cowpea severe mosaic virus (CPSMV) with bud blight symptoms in soybean (Glycine max) plants was recently observed in Paraná for the first time. In this work RT-PCR products of 600 bp of BRMV-PR RNA2 and 594 bp of CPSMV-PR RNA2 were cloned and sequenced. The amino acid sequences coded by the RNA2 segment from these isolates were compared with sequences of the same RNA2 genomic region of six comovirus species from the GenBank. The CPSMV-PR showed 85% homology with the CPSMV RNA2 from the GenBank. Moreover, the BRMV-PR isolate showed 39 and 44% homology with CPSMV and Bean pod mottle virus (BPMV), respectively. This work shows, for the first time, partial sequencing data for BRMV. This data may be helpful for the complete molecular characterization of this virus and for establishing strategies to obtain virus resistant plants.