Mucus disease

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The brown rot is by the bacterium Ralstonia solanacearum caused disease of potatoes , which mainly in tropical and subtropical is common countries. Since the beginning of the 1990s, the disease has also been found sporadically in Europe.

Damage

Infested plants show wilting at individual shoot tips , especially on hot days . Later the entire potato plant wilts. The leaves turn yellow, necrotize , and the plant eventually dies. Cut tubers show a brown discoloration of the vascular bundle ring , from which gray-white bacterial mucus emerges under pressure. Also stems and stolons have brown discoloration of the vascular systems on, from which also oozes a slimy liquid. Diseased tubers quickly turn into rot.

Spread

The mucus disease spreads through infected seedlings . Contaminated machines and devices as well as potato waste that is applied to the field also spread the pathogen . Weeds and insects can also serve as sources of infection . The irrigation water plays an important role in the transmission. The bacterium reaches the potato fields from infected weeds on the banks of streams via the irrigation system. The pathogen causing the mucus disease can persist in the soil for several years.

Combat

A biological or chemical fight against the mucus disease is not possible. The most important defense measure is therefore the use of healthy seedlings.

Web links

• CAB International: Ralstonia solanacearum (bacterial wilt of potato). Retrieved January 16, 2019 .