The result is premature dying of the plant in mid-season. Individual plants could be infected or large areas of the field. As the name suggests plants can die quickly from the disease. Cutting the root and the stem will expose a light brown discolourization of the tap root and the stem extending upwards from the roots into the stem. The cause is a more virulent or aggressive strain of the common soil-borne fungal pathogen Fusarium solani .
Symptoms are more pronounced in fields that also have soybean cyst nematode.
The nematode gives the Fusarium pathogen easy entry points into the root. Having said that, we can expect more sudden death syndrome in the future as more of our acres become infested with SCN since the nematode makes it easier for Fusarium to infect the soybean plant. Whether this is from the nematode not causing as much root injury and therefore making it harder for the fugus to get in or these varieties have natural tolerance to SDS is debatable. This information is provided as a public service, but we cannot guarantee that the information is current or accurate. Readers should verify the information before acting on it.