Etiology of the bacterial wilt of ginger incited by Pseudomonas solanacearum E.F. Smith and its control

Abstract

The bacterial wilt of gingerincited by psuedomonas solanacearum E.P. Smith probably the most serious of all the disease recorded on this crop was first reported from India in 1978. The symptoms of the disease include loss of turgidity of leaves , rolling and yellowing of the leaflets, cropping and wilting of the plant and rotting of the rhizome . No variations in symptoms were observed with the different inclates of the pathogen. Nutrient agar and peptone ceramic acid were the best soild media for the growth of the bacterium . Slight variations in growth were observed among the isolates when grown on ECA medium. The pathogen was identified to be Pseudomonas solanacearum E.P. Smith , biotype -3 of Hayward, from its morphological , physiological and biochemical characters coupled with pathogenicity.