Seed-borne nature of Ralstonia solanacearum in eggplant (Solanum melongenaL.) cultivars in India

A field survey conducted in the state of Karnataka, India during March-July , 1994 showed that bacterial wilt of eggplant caused by Ralstonia solanacea rum is widespread in the state, causing heavy losses. The bacterium was iso lated on TZC medium from infected plants, symptomless plants, seeds extract ed from fruits of wilted and symptomless plants and in seeds purchased from the market. Stem inoculated plants developed wilt symptoms. Plants raised from naturally infected seeds under greenhouse conditions also showed wilt symptoms. The paper deals with isolation, identification, pathogenicity of the bacterium, seed-borne nature and transmission from seeds to plants unde r controlled conditions.