Soybean and grapevine rusts accelerate the defoliation rates of host plants

Grapevine leaf rust (GLR) and soybean rust (SBR), caused by Neophysopella tropicalis and Phakopsora pachyrhizi, respectively, may lead to early defoliation of the host, depending on disease severity level. The rate of defoliation is an important parameter in mechanistic models aimed at simulating yield loss, but such knowledge is not available for these rust diseases. This work aimed to (i) relate the temporal dynamics of GLR and SBR to defoliation; and (ii) estimate the relative rates of defoliation and model their relationship with rust severities. Grapevine and soybean plants were inoculated in the field at increasing concentrations of urediniospore suspensions of the respective causal agent. Control plots of the vineyard and the soybean field were protected with sequential fungicide sprays to evaluate natural defoliation. Rust severity (proportion of area affected) of each leaf or leaflet was evaluated every three or four days on 1323 grapevine leaves and 655 soybean leaflets, respectively. The relative rates of defoliation were estimated as the slope parameters of linear regression of the Napierian logarithm of the number of alive leaves or leaflets over time. Defoliation rates in grapevine and soybean incremented logarithmically with the increase of rust severity. Defoliation rates on symptomless grapevine and soybean leaves were 0.018 and 0.05 day⁻¹, respectively, while they averaged 0.033 day⁻¹ on diseased grapevine leaves (rust severity between 5% and 12%), and 0.12 day⁻¹ on diseased soybean leaflets (rust severity between 25% and 60%). Thus, a quantitative relationship was established between rust severity and defoliation on grapevine and soybean.