Oct. 27, 1923 
A Bacterial Stripe Disease of Proso Millet 
157 
Sunlight. —The proso organism is sensitive to direct sunlight—90 
per cent were killed by exposure in poured plates on ice for 15 minutes. 
(Washington, D. C., June 22.) 
Vitality on culture media. —The organism is resistant on media. 
Cultures grown on beef-peptone agar and bouillon in the ice box for 14 
months produced good growth on agar and in bouillon in 48 hours. 
Identification. —The number of this organism is 211.3332023 accord¬ 
ing to the descriptive chart of the Society of American Bacteriologists, 
1914. 
The name Bacterium panici n. sp. is suggested for this organism. 
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION 
Bacterium panici n. sp. 
A motile rod with rounded ends and polar flagella; single or in pairs, occasionally 
in chains; average measurement i.66/«Xo.6q/a; no spores or zoogloea; involution forms 
occur at high temperatures; capsules are formed; aerobic; on beef-peptone agar colo¬ 
nies are round, white, smooth, shining, raised, margin at first entire and later undulate; 
gelatin is liquefied slowly; milk is cleared in 5 to 6 weeks without coagulation; litmus 
milk turns blue in 3 days and reduction takes place in 7 days; ammonia and hydrogen 
sulphid are produced; indol and gas are not produced; nitrates are reduced; diastasic 
action on potato cylinders is moderate; growth is slight in Cohn’s solution, moderate 
in Uschinsky’s, heaviest in Fermis’, and nonflourescent in all three; maximum tem¬ 
perature for growth 45 0 , minimum 5.5 0 , optimum 33 to 34 0 C.; optimum reaction for 
growth +21 (Ph 6.15)-[-24 (P H 6.3); toleration limits -{-33 (P H 5.4) and —22 (P H 
10); gram negative; not acid fast; stains readily with carbol fuchsin and gentian violet 
and lightly with methylene blue; sensitive to drying; 99 per cent killed by freezing; 
90 per cent killed by sunlight; retains vitality on culture media for 14 months; patho¬ 
genic on varieties of proso producing narrow, brown, water-soaked streaks on leaf 
blades, sheaths, and culms. 
COMPARISON WITH BACTERIAL DISEASES OF RELATED PLANTS 
A. A. Crozier, in a bulletin on millet published at the Michigan State 
Agricultural College Experiment Station in 1894 (j)> makes the following 
statement under diseases: “The sorghum blight {Bacillus sorghi) was 
present in several of our samples of German millet this year, appearing 
as black streaks in the leaves, but doing no particular damage.'’ 
This is the only reference to a bacterial disease of millet found by the 
writer. It is possible that these are lesions produced by the organism 
described in this paper, but no work appears to have been done on the 
disease. 
Bacterial diseases of both broom corn and sorghum have been de¬ 
scribed. In 1887 Burrill described a bacterial disease of broom corn and 
sorghum (j, 2). The plants were described as being yellow and sickly 
in appearance with the lower leaves dying first, but the most conspicuous 
signs of disease were the red blotches of all sizes and shapes on the 
leaves and sheaths and even on the brush of broom corn. He states 
that numbers of bacteria were observed microscopically in the diseased 
tissues, the organism was isolated, and successful inoculations were made 
from cultures and from macerated diseased tissue. The organism was 
named Bacillus sorghi. 
In 1905 Smith and Hedges (7) described a bacterial disease of broom 
com as occurring on the Arlington Experiment Farm at Washington, 
D. C., in 1904. They state, “The elongating red blotches were extremely 
numerous and fused readily, causing the death of many large leaves." 
Bacterial exudate in the form of red crusts or scabs is described as 
occurring on the undersurface of the spots. A white organism was 
