What is the origin of bacterial wilt?

Author: Furman Donnelly  |  Last update: Wednesday, December 24, 2025

4 Bacterial Wilt. The disease is caused by the bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum, formerly Pseudomonas, and it is among the most important soilborne diseases of tomato, particularly in the humid lowlands. Tomato bacterial wilt commonly occurs in humid conditions with relatively high temperatures.

Where did bacterial wilt originate?

Many wild cucurbit species can be infected by this bacterium as well. This disease was first reported in 1893 in Washington D.C. It is now widespread in North America, and is also in Europe and Asia. It is a serious threat to commercial melon production in some areas.

What is the cause of bacterial wilt?

Bacterial wilt is caused by a soil-borne bacterium named Ralstonia solanacearum (formerly known as Pseudomonas solanacearum). Potato wilt bacterium mainly inhabits the roots, and enters the root system at points of injury caused by farm tools or equipment and soil pests.

What is the history of bacterial blight of rice?

The disease was first observed in 1884–85 in Kyushu, Japan, and the causal agent, the bacterium Xanthomonas oryzae pathovar oryzae (also referred to as Xoo), was identified in 1911, at that time having been named Bacillus oryzae.

What is bacterial wilt caused by Ralstonia solanacearum?

1 Introduction. Bacterial wilt caused by the soilborne plant pathogenic bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum is a devastating disease of Solanaceae family (tomato, potato, pepper, ginger, eggplant) including flue-cured tobacco crop production worldwide and in China (Mamphogoro et al., 2020; Cai et al., 2021).

Bacterial Wilt Disease Genetic Analysis by Tomato Root Transformation | Protocol Preview

What causes wilt disease?

These diseases result from pathogen activity in the vessels or tracheids. Wilt pathogens are parasites that can move through the vascular tissue of trees. The pathogens can include fungi, nematodes, bacteria, or other micro-organisms. The means of water disruption vary and are often not com- pletely understood.

How to cure bacterial wilt in tomatoes?

Infected tubers should be disinfected by heat treatment. Bacterial wilt can be controlled by exposing the seed tubers to hot air (112 ºF) with 75% relative humidity for 30 min (Tsang et al., 1998).

What is the killer disease of rice?

Blast is considered a major disease of rice because of its wide distribution and extent of destruction under favorable conditions. Although blast is capable of causing very severe losses of up to 100%, little information exists on the extent and intensity of actual losses in farmers' fields.

What causes bacterial blight?

Bacterial blight is caused by Pseudomonas syringae pv. glycinea, which can also infect snap bean and lima bean. The pathogen overwinters in crop residue and can be seed transmitted.

What is the scientific name for the bacterial wilt of tomato and eggplant?

R. solanacearum/Bacterial wilt - Bacterial wilt of tomato. Bacterial wilt is one of the major diseases of tomato and other. The family includes the Datura or Jimson weed, eggplant, mandrake, deadly nightshade or belladonna, capsicum, potato, tobacco, tomato, and petuniasolanaceous plants.

Can you stop bacterial wilt?

Once bacterial wilt infects a plant, there is no way to control the disease.

What pesticide for bacterial wilt?

Pesticides such as algicide (3-[3-indolyl] butanoic acid), fumigants (metam sodium, 1,3-dichloropropene, and chloropicrin), and plant activators generating systemic resistance on the tomato (validamycin A and validoxylamine) have been used to control bacterial wilt.

What does bacterial wilt look like on tomatoes?

Rapid wilting and death of plants without yellowing or spotting of leaves. Brown discoloration and decay are evident inside the stems of infected plants. The disease is easily diagnosed by suspending a clean, cut section of diseased stem in clear water.

Are any cucumbers resistant to bacterial wilt?

Grow 'County Fair', a cucumber cultivar with genetic resistance to bacterial wilt.

Where did bacteria first come from?

The evolution of bacteria has progressed over billions of years since the Precambrian time with their first major divergence from the archaeal/eukaryotic lineage roughly 3.2-3.5 billion years ago. This was discovered through gene sequencing of bacterial nucleoids to reconstruct their phylogeny.

Does bacterial wilt live in soil?

Bacterial wilt is caused by the bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum. The bacterium can survive in the soil for several years, even in the absence of a host plant. It infects the plant through its roots and moves up through the vascular system, where it multiplies and blocks the flow of water and nutrients.

What kills bacterial blight?

Prune out infected shoots. Organic - Apply Organic Super Sulphur which is suitable for use on vegetables, fruit trees, ornamentals and roses and has no withholding period. For shrubs and ornamentals use PLANThealth Spectrum. Avoid excessive use of fertilisers which are high in nitrogen as it helps spread the infection.

What is bacterial wilt disease?

Bacterial wilt is a complex of diseases that occur in plants such as Cucurbitaceae and Solanaceae (tomato, common bean, etc.) and are caused by the pathogens Erwinia tracheiphila, a gram-negative bacterium, or Curtobacterium flaccumfaciens pv. flaccumfaciens, a gram-positive bacterium.

What is the history of bacterial blight?

The bacterial blight incitant was initially named as Pseudomonas malvacearum by Smith (1901), who later referred to it as Bacterium malvacearum (Smith, 1920). Thereafter Dowson (1939) named it as Xanthomonas malvacearum and Dye et al. (1980) proposed the name Xanthomonas campestris pv. malvacearum (Smith) Dye.

What is poor man's disease in rice?

It is also known as poor man's disease since it is severe in poorly fertilized fields. Numerous brown round spots can be seen on the affected crop. Follow recommended doses and timing for fertilizers.

How do you control bacterial blight in rice?

Spray Streptomycin sulphate + Tetracycline combination 300 g + Copper oxychloride 1.25kg/ha. If necessary repeat 15 days later. Application of bleaching powder @ 5 kg/ha in the irrigation water is recommended in the kresek stage.

What is the dead heart in rice?

Caterpillar bore into central shoot of paddy seedling and tiller, causes drying of the central shoot known as “dead heart”

Can tomatoes recover from wilt?

Unfortunately there is no cure for fungal wilt diseases, so infected plants should be removed and discarded, but do not place diseased plants in the compost pile. Management techniques can be used in the home vegetable garden to control Verticillium and Fusarium wilt.

What is the difference between bacterial and fungal wilt?

Fungal and bacterial wilts display many of the same or similar symptoms of other plant diseases and disorders, making diagnosis sometimes difficult. However, the most prominent symptom in fungal wilts is xylem vascular discoloration and in bacterial wilts the presence of bacterial ooze, vascular discoloration and rot.

What tomato varieties are resistant to bacterial wilt?

Remove potentially infected crop debris to minimize sources of infection. Also wash your hands after touching infected plants. Some tomato varieties are resistant (Saturn, Venus, Neptune, Tropic Bay, and Kewalo).

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