The project is being initialed to identify and characterize the cause of a new emerging disease of soybeans recently observed in Mississippi and Arkansas. "Bud blight/bud proliferation" is being observed and the research community has no information on its cause or control. This project is a multi-disciplinary approach, combining filed scouting and laboratory analyses to assess if the causal agent might be a virus or phytoplasma. They will also collect insects from affected fields to try to understand the epidemiology of the disease. The project's goal is to develop a better understanding of the disease so that control strategies can be proposed.