Goss's Bacterial Wilt and Blight
Symptoms:
- Gray to yellow to reddish striping with wavy margins that follow veins on leaves
- Dark, water-soaked, irregular small spots inside the lesions
- Lesion surfaces may contain patches of dried bacterial exudates
- Symptoms can be confused with Stewart's wilt
- These symptoms may vary on different corn inbreds or hybrids
- Orange vascular bundles may be seen if a corn stalk is cut into two
- The seedling blight phase of this disease is not common but this disease may cause wilting and death of seedlings
Pathogen Involved:
- Clavibacter michiganensis subsp. nebraskensis (a bacterium)
- This pathogen has not been reported outside the United States
- Overwinters in infested corn debris near the soil surface
- Infects by way of wounds
Time of Occurrence:
- Symptoms are often most severe at or near silking
Conditions Favoring Disease:
- Wounding from hail, sand-blasting, rain, wind, or machinery
- Warm temperatures and humidity
Disease Management:
- Use disease resistant hybrids
- Crop rotation and tillage after harvest