Abstract
One of the most important and devastating diseases of corn is bacterial stalk rot caused by Dickeya dadantii Samson et al. 2005 sp. nov. Dickeya Samson et al. 2005, gen. nov. is a recently established genus that includes necrotrophic pathogens responsible for soft rot in a wide range of hosts. Corn was considered as a subsidiary grain a few years ago in Iran, but recently, it is regarded as the main product and the development of its cultivation is considered to supply forage for livestock and poultry. A serious stalk rot infection of maize plants was observed in the regions of Gachsaran, Basht, Dehdasht and Boyerahmad (Southwest Iran) and up to 50% of plants in the area under cultivation were severely affected. During the summer and autumn months of 2015, samples were collected from infected parts of plants in different regions of Kohgiluyeh and Boyer-Ahmad province. Based on the symptoms, pathogenicity, cultural, phenotypic and molecular characteristics, the pathogen of bacterial stalk rot of corn in southwest Iran was found to be similar to D. dadantii and D. zeae (Erwinia chrysanthemi pv. zeae. However the strains affecting maize in southwest Iran differed from the typical D. zeae strains as indicated by biochemical characteristics. This is the first report of stalk rot of maize caused by D. dadantii in Iran.
