Rice Disease Identification

Photo Link
(Starts on next page)

Prepared by Don Groth, Professor, LSU AgCenter Rice Research

Station, Crowley, LA and Clayton Hollier and Chuck Rush, Professors,
LSU AgCenter, Department of Plant Pathology and Crop Physiology,
Baton Rouge LA.
Diseases Found In Louisiana Rice
(Click on suspected disease below to view photos and
information. Use Return to main page link to start
over.) Stem and leaf sheath:
Seed and Seedling: Sheath blight (Rhizoctonia solani)
Stem rot (Magnaporthe salvinii )
Water Mold (Achlya spp. Pythium spp.) Sheath spot (Rhizoctonia oryzae )
Seedling Blight (Various Fungi) Crown sheath rot (Gaeumannomyces graminis )
Cold damage (Cold temperatures) Cercospora net spot (Cercospora oryzae)
Bronzing (Zinc deficiency) Sheath rot (Sarocladium oryzae )
Flag leaf collar blast (Pyricularia oryzae)
Roots and Crown: Node blast (Pyricularia oryzae)
Sheath blotch (Pyrenochaeta oryzae)
Crown Rot (Erwinia chrysanthemi) Aggregate leaf spot (Rhizoctonia oryzae-sativae)
Root Rot (Various Fungi)
Root Knot (Meloidogyne spp.) Panicle, Florets and Grain:

Leaf Blades: Rotten neck blast (Pyricularia oryzae)

Straighthead (Arsenic induced, unknown physiological disorder)
Leaf Blast (Pyricularia oryzae) Head blight (Various fungi)
Brown spot (Bipolaris oryzae) Panicle blast (Pyricularia oryzae)
Narrow brown leaf spot (Cercospora oryzae) Bacterial panicle blight (Burkholderia glumae )
Sheath blight (Rhizoctonia solani) Downy Mildew (Sclerophthora macrospora )
Leaf scald (Sarocladium oryzae) Grain spotting or Pecky rice (Various fungi and bacteria)
Leaf smut (Entyloma oryzae) Kernel smut (Tilletia barclayana )
Stackburn (Alternaria padwickii) False smut (Ustilaginoidea virens )
White leaf streak (Mycovellosiella oryzae)
White tip (Aphelenchoides besseyi )
Bacterial panicle blight (Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae )
Water Molds
Scientific name:

Achlya spp. Pythium spp.

Common name:

Water Molds, seed-rot, and

seedling disease

Description:
Water seeded rice: seeds rotted
after draining water from field,
copper or greenish-brown spots on
soil surfaces or above rotted seeds
coarse, bristly mycelium radiating
from seed (Achlya spp) or
gelatinous matrix surrounding each
affected seed (Pythium spp)

Distribution:

Most common in water seeded

rice. Present in all rice growing
areas.

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Seedling Blight
Scientific name:

Cochliobolus miyabeanus,
Curvularia spp., Fusarium spp.,
Rhizoctonia solani Kuhn,
Sclerotium rolfsii Sacc.
and other pathogenic fungi.

Common name:

Seedling Blight

Description:

Brown spot on coleoptiles

or growing point, seedling
Suddenly dying

Distribution:

Present in all rice growing areas.

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Cold damage
Scientific name:

Cold temperatures after

emergence

Common name:
Cold damage

Description:
White band on leaf blade
where soil line was during
cold period.

Distribution:

In all rice growing areas when

seedling exposed to cold
temperatures

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Bronzing
Scientific name:

Zinc deficiency

Common name:

Bronzing

Description:

Linear reddish-brown lesions

on leaf, purple-brown blotches
on older plants leaves yellow
to bronze lower leaves
floating on water surface,
seedlings dying and
disappearing below water surface.

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana in
cold temperatures.

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Crown Rot
Scientific name:

Erwinia chrysanthemi

Common name:

Crown rot or foot rot

Description:

Soft rot of crown area extending

into lower internode, fetid odor
of soft rot, tillers dying one at a
time, roots dying and turning
black, adventitious roots
produced at node above crown
area. A similar crown
discoloration may be caused by
misapplication of a hormonal
herbicide such as 2,4 -D to early.

Distribution:

In all parishes.

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Root rot
Scientific name:

Various fungi

Common name:

Root rot and feeder root necrosis

Description:

Black discoloration of roots

and fine feeder roots.

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana especially

during cold periods and when
roots damaged by insect feeding

Distribution:

In all parishes

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Root knot
Scientific name:

Meloidogyne spp.

Common name:

Root knot

Description:

Roots with swollen areas, found

only under dry-land conditions

Distribution:

Found in all parishes but extremely

rare.

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Leaf Blast
Scientific name:

Pyricularia oryzae

Common name:

Leaf blast

Description:

Lesions varying from small

round, dark spots to oval spots
with narrow reddish-brown
margins and gray or white
center, spots becoming
elongated, diamond-shaped or
linear with wit pointed ends and
gray dead areas in the center
surrounded by narrow reddish-
brown.

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana. Most

common where the flood has
been lost or rice drained

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Brown Spot
Scientific name:

Cochliobolus miyabeanus

Common name:

Brown spot

Description:

Round to oval, dark-brown

lesions with yellow or gold halo;
as lesions enlarge, they remain
round, with center area necrotic,
gray and the lesion margin
reddish-brown to dark brown.

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana especially

where rice is under stress.

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Narrow brown leaf spot
Scientific name:

Cercospora oryzae

Common name:

Narrow brown leaf spot

Description:

Long narrow brown or

reddish-brown lesions parallel
With leaf veins; usually restricted
to area between veins; lesions
may occur on leaf sheaths.
Under very favorable conditions
Lesions can expand across veins
and leaves may be killed.

Distribution:

Found in every parish and every

field in Louisiana.

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Sheath blight
Scientific name:
Rhizoctonia solani

Common name:
Sheath blight

Description:

Lesions consist of alternating

wide bands of whit, greenish-
gray to tan with narrow bands of
reddish-brown or brown;
Lesions begin at base of blade,
spreading from leaf sheath or
from infection point on leaf
Fungal mycelium may be seen
under very moist conditions.
Fungal survival structures called
sclerotia may form on leaf
surface. Under favorable
conditions bird nest area of dead
tissue may form.

Distribution:
Throughout Louisiana in every
field.

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Leaf Scald
Scientific name:

Microdochium oryzae

Common name:

Leaf scald

Description:

Lesions consist of wide bands of

gray dying tissue alternating with
narrow reddish-brown bands.
Band patterns in chevrons from
leaf tip or edges. Sometimes
lesions are tan blotches at leaf
edges with yellow or golden
boarders.

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Leaf smut
Scientific name:

Entyloma Oryzae

Common name:

Leaf smut

Description:

Small black linear lesions on leaf

blade lesions may have dark gold
or light brown halo, leaf tip dries
and turns gray as plants approach
maturity, lesions may be present
on upper sheath.

Distribution:

Found in all rice growing areas in

Louisiana.

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Stackburn
Scientific name:

Alternaria padwickii

Common name:

Stackburn or Alternaria leaf spot

Description:

Round or oval white or pale tan

spot with marrow red or reddish-
brown margin; often two
adjacent spots coalesce to form
an oval double spot; lesions
with small black fruiting
structures in the center.

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

White leaf streak
Scientific name:

Mycovellosiella oryzae

Common name:

White leaf streak

Description:

Long narrow lesions with

white center and brown
boarders. Very similar to
narrow brown leaf spot.

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana but rare

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

White tip
Scientific name:

Aphelenchoides besseyi

Common name:

White tip

Description:

Leaf tips turn white with a yellow

area between healthy and
diseased tissue; white areas
sometimes occur on leaf edges.

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana
associated with infected seeds.

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Bacterial leaf blight
Scientific name:

Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae

Common name:

Bacterial leaf blight

Description:

Lesions consist of elongated

lesions near the leaf tip or
margin and start as water
soaked in appearance; lesions,
several inches long, turn white
to yellow and then gray due to
saprophytic fungi.

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana but very

rare

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Sheath blight
Scientific name:

Rhizoctonia solani

Common name:

Sheath blight

Description:

Water soaked gay-green lesion

at water line during tillering or
early jointing growth stages
lesions becoming oval, white, or
straw colored in the center with
reddish-brown edges; lesions
spreading up leaf sheaths and
onto blades, lesions forming
discrete lesions or bands on
sheath some lesions darker or
have wider boarder on more
resistant varieties.

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana in every

field.

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Stem rot
Scientific name:

Magnaporthe salvinii

Common name:

Stem rot

Description:

Black angular lesions on leaf

sheath at or near water line on
plants at tillering or early jointing
growth stages; later sheath may
dye and culms have dark-brown
or black streaks, at maturity
culms may collapse and small
round black sclerotia form in
dead tissues.

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana in every

field.

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Sheath spot
Scientific name:

Rhizoctonia oryzae

Common name:

Sheath spot

Description:

Lesions oval, pale green,

turning cream color or white in
the center with a broad dark
reddish-brown margin; lesions
remain separate not forming
large continuous lesions.

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana but fairly

rare.

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Crown sheath rot
Scientific name:

Gaeumannomyces graminis

Common name:

Crown sheath rot

Description:

Black to brown diffuse lesions

on the sheath near the water
line, perithecia necks
protruding from the upper
surface with a thick fungal mat
between the leaf sheath and
culm. Under severe conditions
causing lodging.

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana
especially severe where excess
nitrogen was applied.

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Cercospora net blotch
Scientific name:

Cercospora oryzae

Common name:

Cercospora net blotch or

Cercospora sheath rot

Description:
Reddish- or purple-brown,
netlike pattern on the sheath,

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana.

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Sheath rot
Scientific name:

Sarocladium oryzae

Common name:

Sheath rot

Description:

General reddish-brown
discoloration of flag leaf sheath
Panicles emerging poorly; white
Frosting of conidia on inside
of leaf sheath, florets
discolored a uniform reddish-
brown or dark brown.

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Blast of flag leaf collar
Scientific name:

Pyricularia oryzae

Common name:

Collar blast

Description:

Collar of flag leaf brown, leaf

blade detaches from sheath
as lesion dries

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Node blast
Scientific name:

Pyricularia oryzae

Common name:

Node blast

Description:

Culm node turns black or node

shrivels and gray as plants
approach maturity; nodes turn
dark to blue gray with fungal
conidia culms may break and
plants lodge

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Sheath blotch
Scientific name:
Pyrenochaeta oryzae

Common name:

Sheath blotch

Description:

Oblong bark brown lesion on

lower leaf sheath with dark
brown boarder. Center becomes
gray and black fruiting bodies of
the fungus are imbedded in plant
tissues

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana but rare

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Aggregate sheath spot
Scientific name:

Rhizoctonia oryzae-sativae

Common name:

Aggregate sheath spot

Description:

Oblong tan lesion on lower leaf

sheath with dark brown boarder.
Lesions are similar to sheath
blight but smaller. Several
lesions occur together.

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana but rare

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Rotten neck blast
Scientific name:

Pyricularia oryzae

Common name:

Rotten neck blast

Description:

Node and surrounding area at

base of panicle discolored
brown; stem of panicle shrivels
and may break; node purplish or
blue-gray with fungal spores;
panicle white or gray, florets do
not all fill and turn gray; panicle
branches and stems of florets
gray-brown.

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Straighthead
Scientific name:

Arsenic induced, or
unknown physiological disorder

Common name:
Straighthead

Description:
Panicles upright, not falling over
or slightly bent over because
of sterility. Hulls distorted,
beak-shaped. Plants may not
head at all

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana.

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Head blight
Scientific name:

Various fungi

Common name:

Head blight, scab

Description:

Internodal area above or below

node turns light brown to
tan-brown; kernels in lower
panicle do not fill

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Panicle blast
Scientific name:

Pyricularia oryzae

Common name:

Panicle blast

Description:

Single or several florets on a

panicle branch turn light brown to
Straw colored; floret stem with
brown lesion; grain stops
developing; florets turn gray

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Bacterial panicle blight
Scientific name:
Burkholderia glumae

Common name:
Bacterial panicle blight

Description:

Single to all florets turn brown

on lower part of grain, Grain
stops developing and florets
turn gray; at early stages panicle
branch below grain remains green

Distribution:

Found throughout Louisiana

Especially during hot conditions

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Downy mildew
Scientific name:

Sclerophthora macrospora

Common name:

Downy mildew

Description:

Panicles irregular, unable to

emerge from leaf sheath, and
becoming twisted; the panicle is
small, normally remaining green
longer than usual; no seed.

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana but is

extremely rare

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Pecky Rice
Scientific name:

Various fungi

Common name:

Grain spotting or Pecky rice

Description:

Single or several florets per

panicle with brown to reddish-
brown spots; grain discolored
from feeding of stink bugs and
fungal growth

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Kernel smut
Scientific name:

Tilletia barclayana

Common name:

Kernel smut

Description:

Maturing grain partially filled with

powdery black spore mass, black
spore mass on kernel surface and
at seam between palea and
lemma, spores rub off easily.

Distribution:
Throughout Louisiana

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

False smut
Scientific name:

Ustilaginoidea virens

Common name:

False smut

Description:

Large orange fruiting structure

on one to several grains on
panicle; when orange membrane
ruptures and a mass of spores is
exposed, spores mass turns
dark green to black over time;
grain is replaced by sclerotia.

Distribution:

Throughout Louisiana

RETURN TO MAIN PAGE

Suggested additional sources of additional
information
Rice Varieties and Management Tips, LSU
AgCenter Pub. 2270
Rice Disease Fact Sheet, LSU AgCenter Pub. 3084
Louisiana Rice Production Handbook, LSU
AgCenter Pub. 2321
www.lsuagcenter.com
Contact your local cooperative extension agent

Louisiana State University Agricultural Center, William B. Richardson, Chancellor

Louisiana Agricultural Experiment Station, David J. Boethel, Vice Chancellor and Director
Louisiana Cooperative Extension Service, Paul D. Coreil, Vice Chancellor and Director
Issued in furtherance of Cooperative Extension work, Acts of Congress of May 8 and June 30, 1914,
in cooperation with the United States Department of Agriculture. The Louisiana Cooperative
Extension Service provides equal opportunities in programs and employment.