An insight into the problem of bacterial wilt in Capsicum spp. With special reference to India

Abstract

Bacterial wilt of Capsicum spp. caused by Ralstonia solanacearum species complex (RSSC) is a very disparaging disease and reported to cause complete loss of the crop. The bacterium occurs in the tropical, sub-tropical as well as some of the temperate regions throughout the world. It enters the plant through root wounds or occurs at sites of secondary root emergence and spreads to the plant through the vascular system. The external symptoms of the disease consist of green wilting of the plant and necrosis as well as browning of vascular bundles. The bacterium has a wide host range and can infect 200 plant species belonging to 54 families. It can effectively transmit through soil, seed, roots, insects, contaminated water used for irrigation and also through mechanical injury. The disease is complicated and many cultural, physical, biological and chemical methods have been tried to control it without much success. The use of biological means has proved to be promising to some extent as it is less costly and safe for the environment but for this purpose micro-organisms with strong antagonistic effect on RSSC are required. Considering all the options and their efficacy, the host-plant resistance remains the only prudent option to manage this disease. In this review, an attempt has been made to compile the information about various aspects of bacterial wilt disease in pepper including history, distribution of pathogen, symptoms, detection of the pathogen, host range, transmission, resistance breeding and effective management practices to control the disease.