Late-Season Decline, a Bacterial Disease of Corn Caused by Pantoea ananatis, Identified in Sorghum

Foliar symptoms resembling those associated with late-season decline (LSD) disease of corn, caused by the bacteria Pantoea ananatis, were observed in commercial fields of sorghum plants in 2023 in the Texas panhandle. Diagnosis of symptomatic tissues consistently recovered bacterial isolates that were subsequently identified, based on partial sequences of their respective 16S rRNA gene, as P. ananatis. The pathogenicity of a representative isolate on sorghum was investigated using the method of Koch's postulates and resulted in the successful reproduction of LSD-like foliar symptoms identical to those described for corn, as well as those observed in affected sorghum fields.