The very wet and warm planting conditions across much of Iowa have been ideal for the development of Phytophthora damping off. Plants infected by Phytophthora have a brown discoloration extending from the root up the stem (see photo). Alison Robertson's lab is continuing to assess the diversity of Phytophthora in Iowa and requests your help in this project. The lab would like to obtain plant samples from suspected Phytophthora-infected plants as you find them.

Typical symptoms of Phytophthora infection on soybean. (Alison Robertson)

Please place whole plants with Phytophthora symptoms in an open plastic bag. Include at least part of the root system and information on the location from where the plants were collected (preferably GPS coordinates or township and county). Mail the samples to:

Robertson Lab/Phytophthora Project
Iowa State University
Department of Plant Pathology
351 Bessey Hall
Ames, IA 50011-1020

Alison Robertson is an assistant professor of plant plathology with research and extension responsibilities in field crop diseases. Silvina Stewart is a graduate research assistant working in Alison Robertson's lab.