Morgan Bragg (she/her/hers)
Auburn University
Opelika, AL, USA
Heather Marie Kelly, n/a
Professor
University of Tennessee
Jackson, Tennessee, United States
Tom W. Allen
Extension/Research Professor
Delta Research & Extension Center, Mississippi State University
Stoneville, Mississippi, United States
Daisy Ahumada, n/a
Assistant Professor
North Carolonia State University
Raleigh, North Carolina, United States
Melanie Bayles
Oklahoma State University
Bartlesville, Oklahoma, United States
Kaitlyn Bissonnette
Cotton Incorporated
Cary, North Carolina, United States
Maira Duffeck
Assistant Professor
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, Oklahoma, United States
Travis R. Faske
University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Lonoke, Arkansas, United States
Chase Floyd, pHD
Assistant Research Professor & State Extension Crop Protection Specialist
University of Missouri
Columbia, Missouri, United States
Robert C. Kemerait, Jr., PhD
Professor
UGA Dept of Plant Pathology
Tifton, GA, USA
Kathy Lawrence, n/a
Professor
Auburn University
Auburn, Alabama, United States
Cecilia Monclova-Santana
U.S. Department of Agriculture
Washington, District of Columbia, United States
Trey Price, n/a
Associate Professor
Macon Ridge Research Station, Louisiana State University, Winnsboro, LA 71295
Winnsboro, Louisiana, United States
Alejandro Rojas
Assistant Professor
Michigan State University
East Lansing, Michigan, United States
Ian M. Small, PhD
Associate Professor
University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, North Florida Research and Education Center, Plant Pathology
Quincy, Florida, United States
Terry Spurlock
Associate Prof-Plant Pathologist
Department of Entomology & Plant Pathology, University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture
Little Rock, Arkansas, United States
Amanda L. Strayer-Scherer, PhD
Assistant Professor and Extension Plant Pathologist
Auburn University
Auburn, Alabama, United States
Terry Wheeler
Texas A&M AgriLife Research
Lubbock, Texas, United States
Tessie Wilkerson
Mississippi State University, Delta Research and Extension Center
Stoneville, Mississippi, United States
Zachary A. Noel, PhD
Assistant Professor - Plant Health and Microbiomes
Auburn University
Auburn, AL, USA
A two-year, multi-state effort was undertaken to identify soilborne pathogens causing cotton seedling diseases by sequencing fungal and oomycete communities from bulk soil, rhizosphere, and root tissue. Field sites were part of the National Cotton Council - National Cottonseed Treatment Program, which included 15 sites from 10 states in 2023 and 16 sites from 11 states in 2024. These data were modeled with soil traits and environmental conditions post-planting to explain variation in plant emergence. Metabarcoding revealed that Fusarium oxysporum, F. solani, and F. incarnatum-equiseti sp. complexes were of high relative abundance, and there was a negative relationship between rhizosphere fungal species richness and plant emergence. For oomycetes, a distinct split was noted in the mean relative abundance of Globisporangium irregulare and G. ultimum along 90°W (around the Mississippi River). Soil oomycete species richness decreased as plant emergence increased, and oomycete community composition in rhizosphere and root tissue was influenced by plant emergence. Including functional gene content with shotgun metagenomic sequencing will further elucidate pathogen diversity patterns and uncover biological processes linked to plant emergence, soil and/or environmental factors. Usage of these data may also be incorporated into prediction models for plant emergence. Understanding patterns in pathogen diversity in agriculture is essential to discern why disease pressure may vary across regions and to improve location-specific disease management recommendations.