The occurrence of bacterial shoot rot of ginger caused by Dickeya sp.

Abstract

In June 2014, bacterial shoot rot of ginger (Zingiber officinale Rosc.) occurred in Wakayama City, Wakayama Prefecture, Japan. Infected plants in fields were observed to have yellowish leaves and rot inside the pseudostem. Bacteria isolated from diseased tissues caused the same symptoms as those observed in the fields and were reisolated from the rotted tissue. Based on bacteriological characterization and sequence analysis of the 16S rRNA gene and gyrB gene, the bacteria were identified as Dickeya sp. This is the first report of this disease in Japan.