Technical Factsheet

Basic

17 January 2024

Acidovorax avenae (bacterial leaf blight of grasses)

Publication: PlantwisePlus Knowledge Bank

https://doi.org/10.1079/pwkb.species.44935

Identity

Preferred Scientific Name: Acidovorax avenae Schaad et al. 2008
Preferred Common Name: bacterial leaf blight of grasses
Other Scientific Names: Acidovorax avenae subsp. avenae (Manns 1909) Willems et al. 1992; Bacillus avenae (Manns) Burgvits 1935; Bacterium alboprecipitans (Rosen) Elliott 1930; Bacterium avenae; Bacterium rubrilineans (Lee et al.) Elliott, 1930; Bacterium setariae Okabe 1934; Chlorobacter setariae (Okabe) Patel & Kulkarni 1951; Chlorobacter stariae Okabe; Phytobacterium alboprecipitans (Rosen) Magrou & Prévot 1948; Phytomonas alboprecipitans (Rosen) Bergey et al. 1930; Phytomonas avenae (Manns) Bergey et al. 1930; Phytomonas rubrilineans Lee, Purdy, Barnum & Martin, 1925; Phytomonas setariae (Okabe) Burkholder 1939; Pseudomonas alboprecipitans Rosen 1922; Pseudomonas avenae Manns 1909; Pseudomonas avenae subsp. avenae Manns 1909; Pseudomonas rubrilineans (Lee et al. 1925) Stapp 1928; Pseudomonas setariae (Okabe) Savulescu 1947; Xanthomonas rubrilineans (Lee et al.) Starr & Burkholder 1942; Xanthomonas rubrilineans var. indicus Summanwar & Bhide, 1962
International Common Names: English
bacterial brown stripe
bacterial leaf stripe
brown stripe
leaf streak of sugarcane
maize bacterial leaf blight
red stripe of sugarcane
sugarcane leaf streak
sugarcane red stripe; Spanish
rayado de la hoja de la caña de azúcar; French
pourriture bactérienne de la tige du maïs
EPPO Code: PSDMAV

Pictures

Symptoms on seedlings
Acidovorax avenae (bacterial leaf blight); Symptoms at the seedling stage of rice include inhibition of germination, brown stripes on a leaf, curving of a leaf sheath and abnormal elongation of a mesocotyl.
©Danish Government Institute of Seed Pathology for Developing Countries

Symptoms on maize leaf
Acidovorax avenae (bacterial leaf blight); Leaf streaks on maize (close up).
©ISU

Symptoms
Acidovorax citrulli (fruit blotch); Symptoms on watermelon fruit
©CABI

Symptoms
Acidovorax avenae subsp. citrulli symptoms in watermelon - Citrullus lanatus.
Bernardo de Almeida Halfeld Vieira.

Symptoms on maize leaf
Acidovorax avenae (bacterial leaf blight); Leaf streaks on maize.
©CIMMYT

Symptoms
Acidovorax avenae (bacterial leaf blight); Symptoms on fishtail palm (Caryota mitis). December 2012.
Public Domain - Released by Scot Nelson/via Flickr - CC0 1.0

Symptoms in watermelon seedlings
Water-soaking symptoms in watermelon seedlings.
Donald L. Hopkins

Symptoms on watermelon fruit
Fruit blotch symptoms on mature watermelon fruit.
Donald L. Hopkins

Symptoms on Honeydew fruit
Fruit blotch symptoms on Honeydew fruit.
Donald L. Hopkins

Acidovorax citrulli
watermelon blotch
©CABI

Symptoms on panicle
Acidovorax avenae (bacterial leaf blight); Rice panicle showing symptoms of blight.
©Robert S. Zeigler

Symptoms on leaf blades
Acidovorax avenae (bacterial leaf blight); Water-soaked stripes on the leaves and leaf sheaths (including the coleoptile) begin as dark green and later turn brown. Stripes occur along the midrib, leaf margins or interveinally.
©Danish Government Institute of Seed Pathology for Developing Countries

Distribution

Host Plants and Other Plants Affected

Host	Host status	References
Agropyron (wheatgrass)	Wild host
Agrostis stolonifera (creeping bentgrass)	Main
Avena sativa (oats)	Other
Bromus catharticus (prairiegrass)	Wild host
Bromus inermis (Awnless brome)	Wild host
Bromus marginatus (Mountain brome(grass))	Wild host
Camellia sinensis (tea)	Other
Caryota	Wild host
Digitaria sanguinalis (large crabgrass)	Wild host
Echinochloa crus-galli (barnyard grass)	Wild host
Eleusine coracana (finger millet)	Other
Hordeum vulgare (barley)	Other
Lolium perenne (perennial ryegrass)	Other	Netsu et al. (2022)
Panicum miliaceum (millet)	Other
Paspalum	Wild host
Pennisetum glaucum (pearl millet)	Other
Pennisetum glaucum (pearl millet)	Other
Poaceae (grasses)	Wild host
Saccharum officinarum (sugarcane)	Main
Setaria italica (foxtail millet)	Other
Setaria viridis (green foxtail)	Other
Sorghum bicolor (sorghum)	Main
Strelitzia	Other
Triticum aestivum (wheat)	Other
Zea mays (maize)	Main
Zea mexicana	Wild host

Symptoms

Zhu et al. (2018) summarized the cereal diseases caused by Acidovorax spp. Symptoms of A. avenae vary slightly on different host plants as follows:

Maize

Leaf lesions are narrow, white to straw coloured, and initially appear oil-soaked and translucent. Lesions tend to be restricted by veins. Large, elongate, irregular spots or bands often develop from coalescence and the lesions become thin and papery. Bacterial exudates are often present, being observed when infected leaves are cut and placed in water (Ullasa et al., 1967).

Sorghum

The pathogen causes red spots on sorghum (Hayward, 1983). Circular spots with water-soaked borders and necrotic centres have been observed (Bradbury, 1973).

Millets

Acidovorax avenae causes brownish, necrotic leaf streaks and blight of panicle branches of millet (Panicum miliaceum) (Malavolta et al., 1998). On pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum) it induces reddish-brown stripes on leaves (Gitaitis et al., 2002). Symptoms on foxtail millet leaves included reddish-brown, necrotic stripes along the veins, especially displayed on the upper middle leaves of plants (Wu et al., 2018). A. avenae was reported in Korea causing bacterial stripe of hog millet (Myung et al., 2012).

Sugarcane

On sugarcane, the pathogen causes the development of necrosis and wilting of the youngest leaves, and stem rot symptoms in susceptible varieties (Hernández-Juárez et al., 2021). Leaf stripe symptoms are characterized by the presence of long, narrow, uniform, dark-red stripes. The disease occurs mostly on young and middle-aged leaves rather than on the oldest leaves of the plant. The earliest stages of infection are recognized by the appearance of watery-green stripes, usually midway on the leaf and near the midrib (occasionally, the stripes are concentrated toward the leaf base). The stripes spread up and down the leaf, becoming reddish in colour, and later turning maroon or dark red. They are uniform and straight and the uninfected adjacent vascular bundles sharply delineate their edges. Stripes vary in width from 0.5 to 4.0 mm, and in length from a few centimetres to the entire length of the leaf blade. Two or more stripes may coalesce to form broad bands of diseased leaf tissue. Whitish flakes of dried bacterial exudates may be seen on the lower surface of leaves. Alternating bands of coalesced stripes, maroon stripes and chlorotic areas have been observed in some instances (Martin and Wismer, 1961).

Top rot symptoms on sugarcane include yellowing and wilting of older leaves which may exhibit the typical reddish leaf striping. Top rot may also result from stem and bud infection without manifesting leaf symptoms. Leaf sheaths attached to affected internodes often show reddish discolouration on the outside and reddish splashes on the inner surfaces. Infected internodes frequently exhibit sunken areas which are first water-soaked in appearance and later turn brown to red. Internal tissues are of a similar colour and as rotting progresses, large cavities are formed within the internodes. In advanced stages, the leaf spindle may be easily pulled from the enveloping sheath. Stalks are retarded in growth and often die. Tops frequently break off and fall to the ground. An important diagnostic feature is a strong, unpleasant odour, detected when diseased leaf spindles are pulled from their sheaths (Martin and Wismer, 1961).

Creeping bentgrass

Symptoms of the disease on golf greens begin as small (15 to 30 cm), irregular-shaped areas of foliar discolouration progressing from green to a light-green or yellow appearance. Often associated with discolouration, the affected creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) rapidly etiolates, producing elongated, yellow blades of grass with stems that extend 0.75 to 4 cm above the turfgrass canopy. High summer temperatures (>30°C) lead to thinning and necrosis of the foliar canopy, leaving irregularly shaped areas of dead grass in a creeping bentgrass sward. Initial symptoms may be confused with other diseases or conditions on creeping bentgrass, making diagnosis of the problem difficult. Damage from the disease is most severe on highly maintained, intensively managed putting greens, and symptoms first appear on peripheral or outer edge areas of putting greens, which tend to be the most stressed or trafficked due to frequent and repetitive mowing and rolling practices (Giordano et al., 2012).

Tea

Blight on leaves and young shoots has been observed in some commercial tea gardens in China. According to Geng et al. (2017), the disease initially occurs on young leaves, producing water-soaked spots. As the disease develops further, the spots merge together into large patches and kill the leaf blade. Symptoms will develop on young shoots about 2 weeks later. Disease incidence ranges from 20 to 30% in affected fields (Geng et al., 2017).

List of Symptoms/Signs

Symptom or sign	Life stages	Sign or diagnosis
Plants/Inflorescence/rot
Plants/Leaves/abnormal colours
Plants/Leaves/necrotic areas
Plants/Leaves/odour
Plants/Leaves/rot
Plants/Leaves/wilting
Plants/Roots/reduced root system
Plants/Seeds/discolorations
Plants/Stems/dieback
Plants/Stems/discoloration of bark
Plants/Stems/internal discoloration
Plants/Stems/internal red necrosis
Plants/Stems/stunting or rosetting
Plants/Whole plant/dwarfing
Plants/Whole plant/seedling blight
Plants/Whole plant/unusual odour

Prevention and Control

Control

Cultural Control and Sanitary Methods

High levels of nitrogen plus high levels of the growth regulator Primo Maxx stimulated bacterial wilt-related etiolation on creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera), but did not appear to incite disease at low temperatures and humidity (Giordano et al., 2012; Roberts et al., 2016).

Host-Plant Resistance

Resistance to red stripe has been included in sugarcane cultivars and disease resistance screening is performed in several countries (Akiba et al., 1976; Chinea and Rodriguez, 1982; Mariotti et al., 1991). Inoculation experiments indicated some differences in susceptibility among maize lines (Dange et al., 1978). It appears that bacterial leaf blight will cause negligible economic loss if resistant cultivars are planted (Sumner and Schaad, 1977). Sweetcorn and inbreds appear to be resistant to bacterial leaf blight (Pataky et al., 1997).

Chemical Control

Due to the variable regulations around (de-)registration of pesticides, we are for the moment not including any specific chemical control recommendations. For further information, we recommend you visit the following resources:

•

EU pesticides database (http://ec.europa.eu/food/plant/pesticides/eu-pesticides-database/)

•

PAN pesticide database (www.pesticideinfo.org)

•

Your national pesticide guide

Impact

Bacterial brown stripe is frequently detected in rice-growing countries (Shakya et al., 1985), but the disease is considered to have low epidemic potential (Cottyn et al., 1994). Losses are related to the inhibition of seed germination and to seedling damage in nursery boxes adapted to mechanize transplanters (Goto et al., 1988). The extent of damage to rice production has not been considered of significance (Cottyn et al., 1994). However, Shakya et al. (1988) reported high incidence of bacterial stripe in the field nurseries in the field plots which initially contained more than 50% infected seeds. The tillering was poor and plants were stunted in about 30% of the hills.Bacterial leaf stripe occurs sporadically on maize in India, but is of of minor economic importance on this crop (Dange et al., 1978). Bacterial leaf blight of maize is also a disease of minor importance in the USA. Ear weights in inoculated plots appeared to be 10-15% lower than those from non-inoculated plots of susceptible hybrids (Pataky et al., 1997). The disease was first discovered in sugarcane in Hawaii, USA, and Queensland, Australia, in the 1920s (Martin and Wismer, 1961). During rainy seasons in the 1970s, symptoms appeared on several commercially important sugarcane cultivars in Central America (Fors, 1978). It also has been reported in many other countries, but there is no indication that the disease is of significant economic importance on sugarcane.

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Published online: 17 January 2024

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English

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