Abstract:Banana sheath rot disease is a new disease of banana occurring in Guangdong,Guangxi,and Hainan Provinces of China in recent years.This study proved that the pathogen causing the disease is a kind of bacterium by testing of Koch′s postulates.The pathogenic bacterium was identified as Pantoea agglomerans based on pathogenicity,morphology,physiological and biochemical characteristics,host range,and sequence analysis of 16S rDNA.This is the first report that P.agglomerans caused the sheath rot of banana in China.