Bacterial diseases of maize.

Maize production intensity and economical importance in human and animal consumption, as well as in industrial processing, contributed to a permanent interest of plant pathologists in diseases affecting the crop production. Among numerous pathogens associated with maize not all of them represent serious threat. Maze pathogenic bacteria did not cause significant damage in maze production so far. However, intensive movement of maize germplasm may contribute to an increased pathogenicity of some pathogens on newly introduced genotypes not adapted to a local population of microorganisms. More than 10 bacterial species affecting maize were reported so far. They occurred mostly in specific ecological conditions such as high relative humidity, hot weather, and very often follow an insect damage of the plants. However, there were no severe outbreaks of maize bacterial diseases reported in Serbia so far. Therefore, in this paper we will present an overview of two potentially important bacterial species: Pantoea stewartii subsp. Stewartii - maize bacterial wilt causal agent; and Dickeya spp. - causing maize stalk bacterial rot. The first mentioned is a quarantine pathogen in Serbia, and Dickeya spp. were already reported as maize pathogens in this country.