Dickeya dianthicola

Dickeya • plant pathogenic bacteria • plant diseases • pests-diseases-weeds

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symptoms of Dickeya dianthicola on potato - a) lack of emergence or leaf curling, b) base of the stem turns dark brown or black, c) pith inside symptomatic stems is black and necrotic, d) disease symptoms may only develop on one stem of a multi-stem plant (click on image to enlarge it)
Author(s): Amy Charkowski et al.
Source: Bacterial Diseases of Potato (2020)

Dickeya dianthicola Samson et al., 2005

This bacterium was previously considered to be part of the species Erwinia chrysanthemi. It is one of the causes of blackleg and soft rot in potatoes. Other crops may also become infected.

On potato, the disease causes initial leaf curling, or if the seed potato was contaminated it could rot and no plant emerges. The characteristic blackleg symptoms affect the base of the stem which rots and becomes necrotic with the rot extending several centimetres up the stem. The inside of the stem is decayed and necrotic. In infections by Pectobacterium parmentieri, another common cause of potato blackleg, the rot initially affects mainly the outside, cortical tissue of the stem.

Plants infected with D. dianthicola often wilt and die and the disease development is typically rapid. The disease may be latent in the plants and epidemics can develop quickly and cause total crop losses. Tubers contaminated with the bacterium can cause a soft rot disease of potatoes in storage.