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Stewart's
disease of corn is caused by the bacterium Pantoea stewartii
(formerly Erwinia stewartii). It causes a fatal wilt disease in young
plants of sweet corn and certain susceptible field corn inbreds, but usually we
see the leaf blight phase, which can affect most dent corn inbreds and hybrids
after pollination. The bacterium overwinters in, and is spread by, the Corn
Flea Beetle. Disease symptoms are almost always associated with flea beetle feeding.
Stewart's disease symptoms on leaves are long, wavy streaks that are water
soaked and that eventually turn yellow and die. The pathogen can be seedborne,
although seed transmission is extremely rare. Nevertheless, many countries
prohibit the import of seed from affected fields.
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