First Report of a Soft Rot of Banana in Mainland China Caused by a Dickeya sp. (Pectobacterium chrysanthemi)

Banana is one of the most important fruit crops grown in China (2). A severe outbreak of a soft rot of banana occurred in Guangzhou, China from 2009 to 2010. The disease was characterized by an odorous soft rot of the center of the rhizome. The rot progressed up the pseudostem, destroying the growing point and causing internal decay and often accompanied by vascular discoloration. Yellowing and wilting of the leaves were also characteristic symptoms. A survey of three areas of production of Musa sapientum (cv. ABB) covering 10 ha in Guangzhou revealed that 82% of the fields were affected at an incidence ranging from 20 to 40%. Forty-five bacterial isolates were obtained from lesions on plants sampled from these fields by surface-sterilizing symptomatic tissue in 0.3% NaOCl for 10 min, rinsing the tissue sections three times in sterile water, and plating the sections on nutrient agar. Three representative isolates selected randomly were all gram negative, caused a soft rot of potato disks, utilized malonat...