Rice leaf blight

Bacterial leaf blight (BLB) of rice is caused by the Gram-negative bacterium Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae. This is a devastative disease causing severe economic losses especially in Asia and in the western part of Africa. The bacterium usually enters plants through the hydathodes, moves in both directions (up and down) in the wessels and causes wilt of the plant. No effective treatments measures exist nowadays. For a more detailed description of the disease we can refer to IRRI’s knowledgebank (click on this text to open).