Physiological Potential Assay of Pathogen Bearer Soybean Seeds Using Image Analysis.

The occurrence of soybean diseases is one of the causes of seed production decrease. Soybean seeds are an important vehicle for the dissemination and survival of many pathogens, which can interfere on seed germination and vigor. The objective of this research was to evaluate the physiological potential of pathogen bearer soybean seeds using an automated computer imaging system (SVIS^®) in comparison with traditional procedures. The research was conducted in the Laboratory of Seed Analysis of the Department of Crop Production and in the Laboratory of Seed Pathology of the Department of Plant Protection, both belonging to the State University of São Paulo (UNESP), campus in Jaboticabal, São Paulo State, Brazil. Analyses of vigor with the use of the Seed Vigor Imaging System (SVIS^®) were performed in the Laboratory of Seed Analysis of the Department of Crop Production belonging to the “Luiz de Queiroz” College of Agriculture of the University of São Paulo (ESALQ-USP), in Piracicaba, São Paulo State, Brazil. Soybean seeds of the cultivars BRS 232 and MGBR 46 Conquista were used. The seeds were submitted to the blotter, germination and vigor tests, using both the traditional procedure and image analysis, and seed moisture content was also determined. The evaluation of the fungi incidence was carried out using a stereoscopic microscope and the data were expressed in percentages of infected seeds. It was observed that SVIS^® is sensitive to evaluate the effect of both naturally and artificially infected soybean seeds with similar efficiency to the traditional vigor tests.