Histopathology of neem shoot naturally infected with Phomopsis azadirachtae (the die-back of neem pathogen)

Abstract

Phomopsis azadirachtae Sateesh, Bhat and Devaki, the incitant of die-back of neem is a deuteromycetous fungus which infects the neem trees of all ages and sizes. The chief symptoms of the disease are twig blight, inflorescence blight and fruit rot. In the present study, histopathological studies of die-back infected neem shoots were carried out. Neem shoots showing twig blight symptoms were considered for the study. Healthy neem shoot served as control. The sections showed abundant colonization of inter- and intra-cellular hyphae in bark, cortex, vascular tissues and central pith. The histopathological investigations suggest that the die-back pathogen is heavily colonized in the infected tissues and seems to have greater penetration capacity. Key words: Azadirachta indica, Phomopsis azadirachtae, die-back, neem shoots, histopathological studies.