Bacterial stalk soft rot have been repeatedly observed on maize plants in several commercial fields in northern part of Serbia in the period of 1990 to 2014. The occurrence of the disease corresponded with warm weather and increased humidity. Etiological studies of the diseased tissue constantly resulted in isolation of pectolytic bacterial strains. In order to identify the isolated bacteria, twenty-three strains were characterized by morphological, physiolcal, biochemical, and molecular assays. Pathogenicity of the strains was confirmed by Koch’s postulates on 1-week-old maize seedlings. The strains were Gram and oxidase-negative, non-fluorescent, pectolytic, facultative anaerobic and caused hypersensitive response (HR) in tobacco leaves. They produced catalase and lecithinase, but did not produce oxidase and arginine dehydrolase. All strains reduced nitrate and grew at 37 °C, while variable growth was observed in medium containing 5% NaCl. Phenotypic tests and amplification of the specific 420-bp fragment in PCR assay showed that the strains belong to genus Dickeya. Using ERIC-PCR analysis seven different genetic profiles were obtained, suggesting the presence of genetic diversity in the population of this pathogen in Serbia. Additionally, phylogenetic analysis based on the recA gene sequence analysis indicated that the strains isolated from soft rotted maize belong to Dickeya zeae, leading to the conclusion that this bacterium was the causal agent of stalk soft rot of maize in Serbia.

在1990年至2014年期间，塞尔维亚北部几个商业区的玉米植物上反复观察到细菌秸秆软腐病。该病的发生与天气温暖和湿度增加相对应。对患病组织的病因学研究不断导致分离出溶菌性细菌菌株。为了鉴定分离的细菌，通过形态学，生理学，生化和分子测定对二十三株菌株进行了表征。菌株的致病性已通过科赫的假设在1周龄的玉米幼苗上得到证实。菌株为革兰氏和氧化酶阴性，无荧光，果胶分解，兼性厌氧，并在烟草叶片中引起超敏反应（HR）。他们产生过氧化氢酶和卵磷脂酶，但不产生氧化酶和精氨酸脱氢酶。所有菌株还原硝酸盐并在37°C下生长，而在含有5％NaCl的培养基中观察到了可变的生长。通过表型测试和PCR分析中特定的420 bp片段的扩增表明，该菌株属于属Dickeya。使用ERIC-PCR分析获得了七个不同的遗传图谱，这表明在塞尔维亚这种病原体的种群中存在遗传多样性。另外，基于recA基因序列分析的系统发育分析表明，从软腐烂玉米中分离出的菌株属于Dickeya zeae，从而得出该细菌是塞尔维亚玉米秸秆软腐病的病原体。