Monitoring progression of the die back pathogen Phomopsis azadirachtae in neem seedlings

In the present study, the progression of Phomopsis azadirachtae infection in neem was evaluated using two methods namely, ergosterol estimation and qRT-PCR method. Using artificially infected neem seedlings the disease progression was tabulated at specific intervals by observing the disease symptoms, like the characteristic lesions and drying. The ergosterol method estimated a mycelial mass ranging from 0.0008–0.093 µg/g, the qRT-PCR method estimated mycelial mass ranging from 0.0008–0.099 µg/g. Both the methods indicated the progression of infection within the neem tree. In conclusion, the pathogen was exponentially high around the 20th day post infection, suggesting optimal establishment within the neem plants.