Identification of bacterial pathogen associated with red stripe/top rot disease of sugarcane in Punjab, India

This study was aim to identify the pathogen associated with the red stripe/top rot disease. The isolates were collected from major sugarcane growing districts of Punjab. Molecular identification of the pathogen was carried out to confirm the associated organism with this disease. Of the different sets of specific PCR based molecular markers were used, primer sets SeQ1 (Aaa) and SeQ2 (Aaa) amplified the expected 550bp of ITS (Internal Transcribed Spacer) region of the rDNA which revealed the pathogen as Acidovorax avenae pv. avenae, whereas the primer set Aaaf3 and Aaar2 are specific to strains that infect rice crop did not amplify any fragment. Our studies confirmed Acidovorax avenae pv. avenae as the causal bacterium associated with the red stripe/top rot of sugarcane in Punjab