EVALUATION OF SCALDING (Xanthomonas albilineans (Ashby) Dowson) OF THE LEAF IN SUGAR CANE (Saccharum spp.) CULTIVARS

Abstract

Leaf scalding (Xanthomonas albilineans (Ashby) Dowson) is a disease that affects the quality of the sugar cane juice (Saccharum spp.), and in highly susceptible clones the losses are estimated at 90 % to 100 %. Forty-one sugar cane clones were evaluated in order to identify the lowest susceptibility to scalding, inoculating them in the field at 120 days after planting, with a bacteria suspension of 9X10^-8 ufm ml^-1. The incidence determined by the number of sick stems was evaluated, compared to the population total and severity according to scales. The COLPOSCTMEX 05-51 clone presented an incidence of 35.67% with regard to the rest of the treatments and the YZ 84-7 clone presented a severity of 33 %, classifying them as highly susceptible. The clones CP 87-1233, MEX 02-16, SP 74-5203, CP 89- 2143, EMEX 00-62, MEX 95-3 and MEX 94-192 did not present symptoms of the disease, so they were classified as resistant.