Banana Xanthomonas wilt

Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum
Symptoms of Banana Xanthomonas wilt
Symptoms of Banana Xanthomonas wilt
Scientific classificationEdit this classification
Domain: Bacteria
Phylum: Pseudomonadota
Class: Gammaproteobacteria
Order: Xanthomonadales
Family: Xanthomonadaceae
Genus: Xanthomonas
Species: X. campestris
Pathovar: X. c.  pv. musacearum
Trionomial name
Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum
(Yirgou and Bradbury 1968) Dye 1978


Banana Xanthomonas Wilt (BXW), or banana bacterial wilt (BBW) or enset wilt is a bacterial disease caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum.[1] After being originally identified on a close relative of banana, Ensete ventricosum, in Ethiopia in the 1960s,[2] BXW emanated in Uganda in 2001 affecting all types of banana cultivars. Since then BXW has been diagnosed in Central and East Africa including banana growing regions of: Rwanda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Tanzania, Kenya, Burundi, and Uganda.[3]

Of the numerous diseases infecting bananas, BXW alongside banana bunchy top virus has been the most devastating in recent years. Global concern arose over the livelihoods of African banana farmers and the millions relying on bananas as a staple food when the disease was at its worst between the years 2001 and 2005. It was estimated that in Central Uganda from 2001 and 2004, there was a 30–52 % decrease in banana yield due to BXW infection.[4] The livelihoods of more than 20 million farmers in Ethiopia is supported bye E. ventricosum. BXW is a major disease in Ethiopia and Uganda and can result in 70-100% losses of enset.[5]

Although extensive management of the disease outbreaks has helped reduce the impact of Banana Xanthomonas Wilt even today BXW continues to a pose a real problem to the banana farmer of Central and East Africa.

There is a proposal to reorganize Xanthomonas – especially pathovars of bananas and maize/corn – along the lines of the most recent phylogenetic evidence.[6]

  1. ^ Tushemereirwe, W.; Kangire, A.; Ssekiwoko, F.; Offord, L.C.; Crozier, J.; Boa, E.; Rutherford, M.; Smith J.J. (2004). "First report of Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum on banana in Uganda". Plant Pathology. 53 (6): 802. doi:10.1111/j.1365-3059.2004.01090.x.
  2. ^ Bradbury, J.F.; Yiguro, D. (1968). "Bacterial wilt of Enset ("Ensete ventricosa") incited by "Xanthomonas musacearum"". Phytopathology. 58: 111–112.
  3. ^ Mwangi, M.; Bandyopadhyay, R.; Ragama,P.; Tushemereirwe, R.K. (2007). "Assessment of banana planting practices and cultivar tolerance in relation to management of soilborne Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum". Crop Protection. 26 (8): 1203–1208. Bibcode:2007CrPro..26.1203M. doi:10.1016/j.cropro.2006.10.017.
  4. ^ Karamura, E.; et al. (2010). "Assessing the Impacts of Banana Bacterial Wilt Disease on Banana(Musa spp.) Productivity and Livelihoods of Ugandan Farm Households". Acta Horticulturae. 879 (879): 749–755. doi:10.17660/ActaHortic.2010.879.81.
  5. ^ Haile, M.; Hailegiorgis, Y.; Mekonen, L. (2016). "Plantwise Knowledge Bank | Controlling bacterial wilt of enset using cultural methods". Plantwiseplus Knowledge Bank. Factsheets for Farmers. doi:10.1079/pwkb.20157800326. Retrieved 4 June 2020.
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference Studholme-et-al-2020 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).