Bacterial Leaf Blight of Rice

Introduction:

Bacterial blight is one of the most serious diseases of rice. The earlier the disease occurs, the higher
the yield loss. Yield loss due to bacterial blight can be as much as 70% when susceptible varieties
are grown, in environments favorable to the disease.

Production technology of rice

Rice is principal food crop of nearly half of the world’s population. It occupies an important
position in economy of Pakistan. It is second important food crop of the world as well as our
country.

Adaptation:

It requires plenty of water either from rain fall or irrigation. The precipitation should be well
distributed and should be 130-150 cm.The crop requires relatively high temperature 20-38`C
throughout the entire growing period of 4-6 months. Abundant sunshine and ample light is required
for high yield. Heavy soil is more desirable because of less percolation losses. Clay loam soils are
best because they work into soft mud when puddled. Rice is fairly tolerant to salinity and can be
grown on soil in ph. of 4.0-7.0. It is believed the rice is non aquatic because proper branching and
presence of root hair are characteristics of an aquatic plant. Rice is the ability to germinate and
thrive in water, while other cereals are killed under suchcondition.It is a unique plant having the
ability to transport oxygen to submerge roots. However the plants cannot grow under complete an-
aerobic condition.

Productivity in global rice environments

Rice is grown in more than a hundred countries, with a total harvested area of approximately 158
million hectares, producing more than 700 million tons annually (470 million tons of milled rice).
Nearly 640 million tons of rice are grown in Asia, representing 90% of global production. Sub-
Saharan Africa produces about 19 million tons and Latin America some 25 million tons. In Asia
and sub-Saharan Africa, almost all rice is grown on small farms of 0.5−3 ha.

Yields range from less than 1 t/ha under very poor rainfed conditions to more than 10 t/ha in
intensive temperate irrigated systems. Small, and in many areas shrinking, farm sizes account for
the low incomes of rice farm families. Rice grows in a wide range of environments and is
productive in many situations where other crops would fail.
The highest rice yields have traditionally been obtained from plantings in high-latitude areas that
have long day length and where intensive farming techniques are practiced, or in low-latitude
desert areas that have very high solar energy

When plants are infected at booting stage, bacterial blight does not affect yield but results in poor
quality grains and a high proportion of broken kernels.

Bacterial blight is a vascular disease resulting in a systemic infection2 that produces tannish-grey
to white lesions along the veins. Symptoms are observed at the tillering stage, disease incidence
increases with plant growth, peaking at the flowering stage3. Kresek is the more destructive
manifestation of the disease, wherein the leaves of the entire plant turn pale yellow and wilt during
the seedling to the early tillering stage, resulting in a partial or total crop failure. Plants less than
21 days old are the most susceptible and temperatures between 28 and 34°C favour kresek
development4,5. BB is characteristic of yellow lesions with wavy margins on leaf blades that may
extend to the sheath. These lesions acquire a whitish straw colour over a period of time. The
occurrence of a bacterial ooze from infected leaves has been observed in warm and humid climates,
which contributes to the spread of this disease. Though leaf blight does occur at all growth stages,
it is most common from maximum tillering until maturity. While damage is extensive when kresek
precedes BB, post flowering infections have very little effect on grain yield. However, when
infection occurs during panicle initiation or subsequently during stages that precede flowering, a
severe impairment of grain development and a consequent increase in sterility was observed.
The disease is most likely to develop in areas that have weeds and stubbles of infected plants. It
can occur in both tropical and temperate environments, particularly in irrigated and rainfed
lowland areas. In general, the disease favors temperatures at 25−34°C, with relative humidity
above 70%.It is commonly observed when strong winds and continuous heavy rains occur,
allowing the disease-causing bacteria to easily spread through ooze droplets on lesions of infected
plants. Bacterial blight can be severe in susceptible rice varieties under high nitrogen fertilization
Check for wilting and yellowing of leaves, or wilting of seedlings (also called kresek). On
seedlings, infected leaves turn grayish green and roll up. As the disease progresses, the leaves turn
yellow to straw-colored and wilt, leading whole seedlings to dry up and die. Kresek on seedlings
may sometimes be confused with early rice stem borer damage. To distinguish kresek symptoms
from stem borer damage, squeeze the lower end of infected seedlings between the fingers. Kresek
symptoms should show yellowish bacterial ooze coming out of the cut ends. Unlike plants infested
with stem borer, rice plants with kresek are not easily pulled out from soil. On older plants, lesions
usually develop as water-soaked to yellow-orange stripes on leaf blades or leaf tips or on
mechanically injured parts of leaves. Lesions have a wavy margin and progress toward the leaf
base. On young lesions, bacterial ooze resembling a milky dew drop can be observed early in the
morning. The bacterial ooze later on dries up and becomes small yellowish beads underneath the
leaf. Old lesions turn yellow to grayish white with black dots due to the growth of various
saprophytic fungi. On severely infected leaves, lesions may extend to the leaf sheath.

The Pathogen:

The pathogen is a yellow, slime-producing, motile, gramnegative rod with a polar flagellum and
enters the host normally through wounds or natural openings. It reaches the vascular tissue,
particularly the xylem, from where it multiplies and spreads throughout the plant. Recent advances
in understanding of the principles underlying the interaction between the pathogen and its host,
leading to either a compatible or an incompatible disease reaction has been reviewed6. A number
of modern approaches to bacterial taxonomy, classification and nomenclature appear promising
especially with the blight pathogen

Mode of infection and transmission of the pathogen:

X. oryzae pv. oryzae enters either through wounds or hydathodes, multiplies in the epitheme and
moves to the xylem vessels where active multiplication results in blight on the leaves. The
symptoms of the disease include leaf blight, wilting (kresek) and pale yellow leaves. Leaf blight
is characterized by wavy elongated lesions, which develop along the leaf margins. They start as
small water-soaked stripes from the tips where water pores are found and rapidly enlarge in length
and width, forming a yellow lesion with a wavy margin along the lead edges. Later on, diseased
areas turn white to grey. These lesions can develop on one or both sides of the leaf and occasionally
along the midribs, and leaf blight symptoms generally occur from maximum tillering stage and
onwards. In young lesions, drops of bacterial ooze can be observed early in the morning. On
panicles the disease causes grey to light brown lesions on glumes that result in infertility and low
quality of the grains. Kresek is the result of systemic infection that is common in the tropics in
young plants and during the tillering stage of susceptible cultivars. Leaves of infected plants wilt,
roll up, turn grey-green and whither, and entire plants finally die. Surviving plants look stunted
and yellowish. Yellow or pale yellow leaves are due to systemic infections that appear at tillering
stage; the youngest leaves become uniformly pale yellow or show a broad yellow stripe, and
bacteria are found in the internodes and crowns of affected stems, but not in the leaf itself.
Successful infection of a host plant by a bacterium involves the movement of the bacterium
towards the host, contact between the two, penetration of the host by the bacterium and
proliferation of the bacterium inside the host immediately following entrance. In the case of BB
disease, the pathogen chiefly enters through hydathodes. Wounds on rice leaves are also
favourable avenues for entry of the pathogen. The infection seems more successful in the case of
entry of the pathogen through wound sites than natural openings. However, new wounds are more
conducive to infection than old wounds.

Biological control:

This study was conducted to assess efficacy of biological control against bacterial leaf blight
(BLB) of rice produced by Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. Five endophytic strains (A1, A2, A3,
A13 and A15) and two rhizospherial Bacilli (D29 and H8) were tested for their antagonistic
activities against BLB in vitro and in vivo. All seven strains showed high potential of antagonistic
activity against X. oryzae pv. oryzae and three phytopathogenic fungi in vitro. Test

Chemical control:

Bleaching powder containing 30% chlorine (2kg/ha) significantly reduced the BLB lesion in rice.
It has been observed that acetylenic compounds such as dicarbamoylacetylen (Collocidin) at low
concentrations completely inhibits Xanthomonas oryzae in liquid medium . Realizing the success
of chemical control of BLB, the present study was aimed to find out the best chemical control of
Bacterial Leaf Blight disease of rice.