60-2019 Characterization of Antifungal Activity of Endophytic Bacteria Associated with Soybean Charcoal Rot Disease System Annual Report

oybean yield reduction due to Charcoal rot disease caused by the fungus Macrophomina phaseolina in the United States was 20.8 million bushels in 2015. The disease accounts for an estimated loss of 1.48% of soybean yield in Southern states. This disease is particularly problematic due to the lack of fungicides capable of providing effective disease control and lack of genetic resistance in cultivars.  Endophytic bacteria occur in all plants and we have demonstrated some differences in endophyte communities of diseased and asymptomatic plants growing adjacent to one another in disease patches of soybean fields.