Ajay Kumar Gautam

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Verified

Ajay verified their affiliation via an institutional email.

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• PhD
• Scientist D at Patanjali Research Foundation

Ascomycota, the most speciose phylum of fungi, is a complex entity, comprising three diverse subphyla: Pezizomycotina, Saccharomycotina, and Taphrinomycotina. The largest and most diverse subphylum, Pezizomycotina, is a rich tapestry of 16 classes and 171 orders. Saccharomycotina, the second largest subphylum, is a diverse collection of seven class...

Caves offer distinct environmental conditions that foster fungal diversity, and to date, over 2,000 fungal species have been recorded in cave ecosystems. During our surveys of cave fungi in Yunnan Province, China, we isolated several intriguing fungal strains. Detailed morphological characteristics and combined multi-locus phylogeny of internal tra...

Puccinia species (Pucciniaceae, Pucciniales) are plant pathogens worldwide and are characterized by their host association, morphology, and molecular data. In this study, two new species of Puccinia, collected from grass and Carex scaposa in Yunnan Province, China, were identified based on phylogeny and morphology. They are described as Puccinia ku...

This paper represents the fifth One Stop Shop (OSS) series contribution. This series provides background, disease symptoms, pathogen biology and epidemiology (when available) distribution, hosts for the treated genera, and important gene regions for a better resolution. Species that have pathogenic data are also provided under each genus. This fift...

The powdery mildew infection on the leaves of Plantago lanceolata was observed in the Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh. After the analysis of the morphological characteristics of diseased samples, the powdery mildew pathogen was identified as Podosphaera plantaginis. This fungus reflects its major distribution in Europe but also marks its presenc...

This study introduces a new species of Striaticonidium from the evergreen forests of Karadichola, Vazhachal in the southern Western Ghats of Kerala, India. This new species is distinct from the other members of the Striaticonidium genus due to its significantly longer determinate synnemata with twisted stalk and marginal, flexuous, coarsely ornamen...

This study records Auriculoscypha anacardiicola on a new anacardiaceous host, Holigarna arnottiana for the first time from the Northern Western Ghats, Maharashtra, India. This enigmatic fungus has a triple tropical level symbiosis between fungus insect plants and is only found in the Western Ghats and adjacent habitats in India. Auriculoscypha anac...

With the simultaneous growth in interest from the mycological community to discover fungal species and classify them, there is also an important need to assemble all taxonomic information onto common platforms. Fungal classification is facing a rapidly evolving landscape and organizing genera into an appropriate taxonomic hierarchy is central to be...

Ravenelia is the third largest rust genus of the order Pucciniales with more than 200 described species. It is an important rust genus that has undergone tremendous taxonomic changes. This genus produces teliospores united into a head on a compound pedicel composed of two to several hyphae with autoecious, macro-, demi- to hemi-, and, more rarely,...

Balkrishna A, Gautam AK, Sharma N, Arya V, Khelwade V. 2024. Growth and yield potential of sludge-based organic fertilizers on bell pepper Capsicum annum. Asian J Agric 8: 18-24. This study investigated the effects of different organic fertilizers on bell pepper's growth and yield potential (Capsicum annum L.). A total of six fertilizer treatments...

This study was focused on the assessment of the efficiency of Ganga sludge-based organic fertilizers on growth and yield parameters of a leguminous crop pea (Pisum sativum). The plant parameters like plant height, total biomass (root and shoot), leaf area, total chlorophyll, number of pods per plant and pods weight per plot were investigated during...

This study was focused on the assessment of the efficiency of Ganga sludge-based organic fertilizers on growth and yield parameters of a leguminous crop pea (Pisum sativum). The plant parameters like plant height, total biomass (root and shoot), leaf area, total chlorophyll, number of pods per plant and pods weight per plot were investigated during...

Historically, chemical based agriculture resulted in surplus production to meet global food security. However, several diseases like cancer, respiratory, cardiovascular, and neurological, along with environmental contamination became prevalent due to these chemicals. In this context, one of the most promising approaches in producing nutritious food...

Objectives Despite significant advancements in modern medicine, effective hepatoprotective medication with minimal side effects is still lacking. In this context. Tinospora cordifolia, an Indian Ayurvedic liana, has attracted much attention. Key findings Traditionally, T. cordifolia has been found to be effective in the treatment of jaundice; acco...

Background Sewage sludge is a by-product of urbanization that poses environmental and health challenges. However, it can also be a valuable source of organic matter and nutrients for agriculture. Method: This study aimed to assess the potential of five types of organic fertilizers derived from treated Ganga sludge on the growth of wheat plants. The...

Paralysis is a symptom of some major ailment in the body that may take days or months to recover. The available treatments are not only expensive; they may have numerous side effects. Yagya therapy, on the other hand presents an efficient alternative or supportive therapy for paralysis treatment. The basic composition of yagya samgri contains diffe...

This research paper investigated the therapeutic potential of the ancient Indian practice of Yagya for the health conditions of sciatica, slipped discs and joint pain. In the Ayurvedic system of medicine, these health issues are linked to the imbalance of "Vata", which governs body movement. Offering medicinal herbs such as samagri in the holy fire...

During the present study, the effects of different Ganga sludge based organic fertilizers were investigated on the growth and yield attributes of carrot (Daucus carota). Six fertilizers Jaivik Prom, Pori Potash, Dharti ka Chaukidar, Jaivik Poshak, Jaivik Khad prepared from treated Ganga sludge were analyzed during the present study using a randomiz...

The Global Consortium for the Classification of Fungi and fungus-like taxa is an international initiative of more than 550 mycologists to develop an electronic structure for the classification of these organisms. The members of the Consortium originate from 55 countries/regions worldwide, from a wide range of disciplines, and include senior, mid-ca...

Sepsis has evolved as an enormous health issue amongst critically ill patients. It is a major risk factor that results in multiple organ failure and shock. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is one of the most frequent complications underlying sepsis, which portends a heavy burden of mortality and morbidity. Thus, the present review is aimed to provide an i...

The monotypic genus Excipulariopsis, with type species E. narsapurensis, was established based on the emended generic characteristics of Excipularia narsapurensis. Excipulariopsis has non-cupulated superficial conidiomata arising directly from stroma surrounded by thick walled dark brown subulate setae. The conidia are dark brown, broadly fusoid, h...

Fig rust is one of the serious fungal diseases caused by Cerotelium fi ci which causes great loss to the overall growth and yield of the plant. This disease is generally characterized by pale reddish-brown to reddish-brown angular leaf spots, typically found on the adaxial surfaces of the leaves, whereas the corresponding abaxial surface of the sam...

Puccinia, which comprises 4000 species, is the largest genus of rust fungi and one of the destructive plant pathogenic rust genera that are reported to infect both agricultural and nonagricultural plants with severe illnesses. The presence of bi-celled teliospores is one of the major features of these rust fungi that differentiated them from Uromyc...

North-western India is well-known for its unique fungal biodiversity, especially for asexual Ascomycota. The present study introduces yet another new fungus from this region, characterized by forming unusual synnemata-like structures that give rise to pigmented dictyoconidia. Phylogenetic analyses, based on SSU, LSU, ITS, and TEF1α sequence data re...

Pea is third most important pulse crop of the world which is being cultivated all over the globe over the land area of two million hectares. Despite of its being grown in large area, this crop is infected by numerous pathogens including rust disease. This rust is disease of pea is caused by Uromyces viciae fabae affect the pea crop all over the mid...

The rust genus Skierka belonging to the phylum Basidiomycota was described in 1900 by Raciborski with Skierka canarii as the type species. The published literature on this rust genus reveals its ambiguity in taxonomic placement. It was challenging to taxonomically delineate and precisely identify each species within this genus due to the species sh...

Abstract—A new species of sporodochial fungus, Dictyocheirospora himachalensis, characterized by cylindrical-ellipsoidal, pale olivaceous-brown conidia composed of seven non-complanate rows of cells, is described and illustrated. A comparative table of Dictyocheirospora species is provided. Key words—appendages, Dictyosporiaceae, Pleosporales, asex...

Mycorrhizal fungi are associated in mutualistic symbiosis relationships with fine roots of the plants. These fungi help in enhancing plant health to combat both biotic and abiotic stresses. The present investigation was undertaken to study the effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) on the growth performance of pea (Pisum sativum). Soils were...

Ayurveda is an ancient traditional medicinal system that has gained widespread acceptance, however, its ancient wisdom still needs in-depth investigation. Acharya Balkrishna is a prominent scholar and expert in Ayurveda, Sanskrit, yoga, and the Vedas. His efforts led to the acceptance of Ayurveda and yoga practices by millions of people worldwide....

Uromyces is the second-largest plant pathogenic rust genus, is responsible for numerous diseases, and has major effects on both agricultural and non-agricultural plants. The genus is generally characterized by its unicellular teliospores that help to characterize it and distinguish it from another important rust genus, Puccinia. In this study, a gl...

Uromyces is an important plant pathogenic genus of rust fungi (Pucciniales, Basidiomycota). Uromyces fabae is one of the major species of this rust genus that affects the plant family Fabaceae. This rust fungus is autoecious in nature, produces aeciospores, urediospores and teliospores found on the surface of the host plant. This fungus has worldwi...

This study presented a comprehensive overview on fungal diseases of Aloe vera found commonly in India. The detailed analyses of the information obtained from the present study and previously published literature revealed that diseases of A. vera can be categorized into two main categories as spots and rots caused by various fungal pathogens. Total...

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) are soil fungi which form a mutualistic symbiosis with the roots of plants and enhanced uptake of immobile nutrients from the soil. The present study was carried out to study the association of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) with roots and rhizosphere of pea (Pisum sativum). A total of 17 AMF fungi belonging t...

Fungi are an important and diverse component in various ecosystems. The methods to identify different fungi are an important step in any mycological study. Classical methods of fungal identification, which rely mainly on morphological characteristics and modern use of DNA based molecular techniques, have proven to be very helpful to explore their t...

A new species, Neosporidesmium himachalense, collected from a decaying twig of an unidentified angiosperm in Mandi Himachal Pradesh, India, is described and illustrated. It is characterized by macronematous, laterally and terminally diverging conidiophores, terminal, doliiform, monoblastic conidiogenous cells, and obclavate 7–18-distoseptate, pale...

A new species, Kirschsteiniothelia shimlaensis collected on stumps of Cedrus deodara , is described and illustrated. It is characterized by mostly monotretic (rarely polytretic), terminal or intercalary, discrete or integrated conidiogenous cells with solitary conidia that are obovoid, oblong, broadly clavate or cylindrical and dark brown, smooth,...

A new hyphomycete genus and species, Brykendrickia catenata , collected on decaying culms of bamboo species from Indian forests, is described and illustrated. Brykendrickia catenata is the type species for a new monotypic genus possessing sporodochial conidiomata. Conidiogenous cells are polyblastic, rarely monoblastic, cylindrical, and hyaline to...

Cheiromycella indica sp. nov. is described and illustrated from dead and decaying wood of Pinus roxburghii Sarg. from Solan district along with Brachysporiella pulchra and Helicoma dennisii collected from Kangra, Bilaspur and Mandi districts of Himachal Pradesh, respectively. A species of Cheiromycella is distinguished by its small conidia from the...

Rust fungi show unique systematic characteristics among all fungal groups. A single species of rust fungi may produce up to five morphologically and cytologically distinct spore-producing structures thereby attracting the interest of mycologist for centuries. In India, the research on rust fungi started with the arrival of foreign visiting scientis...

Rusts constitute a major group of the Kingdom Fungi and they are distributed all over the world on a wide range of wild and cultivated plants. It is the largest natural group of plant pathogens including 95% of the subphylum Pucciniomycotina and about 8% of all described Fungi. This article provides an overview and outline of rust fungi of India wi...

Rusts constitute a major group of the Kingdom Fungi and they are distributed all over the world on a wide range of wild and cultivated plants. It is the largest natural group of plant pathogens including 95% of the subphylum Pucciniomycotina and about 8% of all described Fungi. This article provides an overview and outline of rust fungi of India wi...

Rusts constitute a major group of the Kingdom Fungi and they are distributed all over the world on a wide range of wild and cultivated plants. It is the largest natural group of plant pathogens including 95% of the subphylum Pucciniomycotina and about 8% of all described Fungi. This article provides an overview and outline of rust fungi of India wi...

This is a continuation of a series focused on providing a stable platform for the taxonomy of phytopathogenic fungi and fungus-like organisms. This paper focuses on one family: Erysiphaceae and 24 phytopathogenic genera: Armillaria, Barriopsis, Cercospora, Cladosporium, Clinoconidium, Colletotrichum, Cylindrocladiella, Dothidotthia,, Fomitopsis, Ga...

Aloe vera (L.) Burm. f. is an important medicinal plant with long time tradition of use by variety of cultures. This plant is suffered with various fungal diseases caused by variety of fungal pathogens in different seasons which affects its morphological characters and diminishes the quality, quantity and production of gel. The present study was ai...

Clinoconidium lauracearum sp. nov. (Cryptobasidiaceae) is described and illustrated from infected fruits of Cinnamomum tamala (Lauraceae) collected from Rudraprayag district of Uttarakhand State, India. The species shows characteristics of Clinoconidium and Drepanoconis, but differs from other species in these genera by the combination of shapes, s...

A checklist of cercosporoid fungi reported from Himachal Pradesh, India, has been prepared on the basis of available publications. A total of 103 species belonging to 15 genera of cercosporoid fungi have been reported from Himachal Pradesh on 118 plant species belonging to 46 families. The species richness of cercosporoid fungi in the region was as...

This article provides an outline of the classification of the kingdom Fungi (including fossil fungi. i.e. dispersed spores, mycelia, sporophores, mycorrhizas). We treat 19 phyla of fungi. These are Aphelidiomycota, Ascomycota, Basidiobolomycota, Basidiomycota, Blastocladiomycota, Calcarisporiellomycota, Caulochytriomycota, Chytridiomycota, Entomoph...

This article provides an outline of the classification of the kingdom Fungi (including fossil fungi. i.e. dispersed spores, mycelia, sporophores, mycorrhizas). We treat 19 phyla of fungi. These are Aphelidiomycota, Ascomycota, Basidiobolomycota, Basidiomycota, Blastocladiomycota, Calcarisporiellomycota, Caulochytriomycota, Chytridiomycota, Entomoph...

A severe rust infection was observed on the plantations of Oxalis corniculata (Oxalidaceae), commonly known as procumbent yellow sorrel, in Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, and on O. latifolia, known as garden pink-sorrel, in Uttarakhand in northern India. Detailed morphological examination of the diseased leaf samples was conducted, which confirme...

Nanoscience is an interdisciplinary science which involves the study of phenomenon and manipulation of materials on ultra-small (nano)scale. Their nanostructure provides them an identity as key player in multidisciplinary approaches including agriculture, chemical industries, drug designing and drug delivery, electronics, fermentation technologies,...

Aloe vera (L.) Burm. f. is an important medicinal plant with long time tradition of use by variety of cultures. This plant is suffered with various fungal diseases caused by variety of fungal pathogens in different seasons which affects its morphological characters and diminishes the quality, quantity and production of gel. The present study was ai...

A severe rust infection was observed on the plantations of Oxalis corniculata (Oxalidaceae), commonly known as procumbent yellow sorrel, in Himachal Pradesh and Chandigarh, and on O. latifolia, known as garden pink-sorrel, in Uttarakhand in northern India. Detailed morphological examination of the diseased leaf samples was conducted, which confirme...

An updated analysis of the diversity of rust fungi in Himachal Pradesh is provided herein as a product of field surveys, of mycological analysis, and of all forms of published documentation and literature. The results of all forms of analysis revealed that Himachal Pradesh has 167 species of rust fungi belonging to the class Pucciniomycetes. The cl...

Hyphomycetes are abundant and highly diverse in tropical areas such as India due to its climate and geographical landscape. However, several regions of the country remained unexplored or underexplored and many species remained undiscovered in the country. During mycological forays from the forests of Himachal Pradesh, two hyphomycetous fungi were c...

The survey was conducted to record the disease incidence, severity and frequency of occurrence of fungal pathogens on Aloe vera in sixteen nurseries and two botanical gardens of Gwalior during winter and rainy season of 2013 & 2014. The present survey revealed that disease incidence was found significantly higher in winter season as compared to rai...

This study aimed to determine the alterations in major biochemical contents of Aloe verainfested by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. Efects of fungal pathogen C. gloeosporioideson chlorophyll-a, chlorophyll-b, total chlorophyll, total soluble sugar, total phenols, total anthraquinones, total favonoids, carotenoids and vitamin E were analyzed in art...

Podosphaera fuliginea (Schltdl.) U. Braun & S. Takam. causes powdery mildew on an important medicinal herb, Picrorhiza kurrooa Royle ex. Benth. in India

Capnodium berberidis, a sooty mould fungus, previously reported only from Pakistan in 1978, was recently observed on Berberis lycium in Jot Pass, district Chamba of Himachal Pradesh, India. Berberis lycium is a well-known small to medium sized spiny, woody, deciduous or evergreen medicinal and ornamental plant distributed throughout temperate and s...

The mechanism of pathogenesis in fungi involves use of mechanical forces (formation of appressoria and penetration of the host cuticle and cell wall), chemical weapons including enzymes (cutinases, pectinases, cellulases etc) toxins and growth regulators. Pathogen overcomes different host barriers either by quiescence, detoxification phytoanticipin...

Pathogenic bacteria incite diseases in plants by penetrating into host tissues through natural openings, such as hydathodes, stomata, lenticels, stigma, nectarthodes or through wounds and bacteria are directly deposited by insect vectors. Plant pathogenic bacteria have evolved specialized strategies includes quorum sensing, type secretions, to expl...

Fungi are one of the important components in the biosphere, ubiquitous in nature and essential in recycling of nutrients in all type of habitats. These organisms play key role as decomposers, phytopathogens, symbionts and in elemental cycles. Despite of their important roles in the biosphere, it is important to explore all categories of fungi. This...

Aloe vera (L.) Burm. f., an important medicinal plant suffers with a huge loss in its yield due to the attack of number of fungal pathogens. The aim of the present study was to analyze the biochemical changes in A. vera infected by Fusarium proliferatum (Matsushima) Nirenberg causing leaf spot disease in plant. Artificially infested leaves were exa...

A rust fungus occurring on bamboo leaves from Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, North India is described and illustrated. A critical morphological and microscopic examination revealed it to be Kweilingia divina. It is the synonym of Dasturella divina, the type species for the fungal genus Dasturella, named in 1943 from infected leaf samples of bamboo (Ba...

Severe leaf spot disease was observed on Aloe vera plants in the winters of 2011 and 2012 during a survey of various nurseries of Gwalior, India. Irregular, sunken, dark creamish brown spots having reddish brown margin were noticed on both surfaces of the leaves. The causal organism was consistently isolated from symptomatic leaves on potato dextro...

Powdery mildews are obligate biotropic fungal parasites responsible for disease on a wide range of host plants. They are easily recognizable as white powdery growth on leaves, shoots and sometimes on flowers and even on fruits. This checklist of powdery mildew fungi of Himachal Pradesh, India is based on an exhaustive bibliographic survey of the li...

Aloe vera (Aloe barbadensis Miller) is a marvelous medicinal plant well known for its excellent medicinal properties. Leaf spot and root rot diseases were found on Aloe vera in various areas of Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India, in winters of 2011-2012. The typical disease symptoms were observed on both abaxial and adaxial surface of leaves as well as...

em>Pistacia integerrima is a deciduous tree species belonging to the family Anacardiaceae. The plant possesses numerous phytochemicals of ethno-medicinal importance. In a routine mycological survey carried out from July 2013 to June 2014, leaves of P. integerrima were found infected with fungi causing rust and blight diseases. The morphological and...

A rust infection was recently observed on Grewia tiliifolia Vahl during an exploration of rust fungi in Himachal Pradesh, India, in October 2015. An examination identified the rust fungus as Puccinia tiliaefolia T. S. Ramakr. & Sundaram. This finding represents a new record for the northwestern Himalayas and the first finding of Puccinia tiliaefoli...

Gautam AK, Avasthi S. 2017. Short Communication: Some additions to powdery mildews (Erysiphales: Fungi) of Northwestern Himalayas. Nusantara Bioscience 9: 52-56. During the regular mycological collections, between October to December 2015 in NorthWest Himalayas of Himachal Pradesh, four powdery mildews parasitic on higher plants were gathered. Afte...

Uromyces is a genus of rust fungi that infects both monocots and dicots throughout the world. The genus is particularly common on plant families like Asteraceae, Euphorbiaceae, Fabaceae, Liliaceae, Poaceae, and Loranthaceae. A rust infection was observed on leaves and stem of Trifolium repens from Himachal Pradesh, India. The symptoms appeared as d...

This paper deals with the study of a leaf spot disease observed on Aloe vera leaves in various nurseries and botanical gardens during the routine surveys of two consecutive years of 2010 and 2011. The symptoms appeared in the form of circular to oval, brown to black, sunken spots on abaxial surface of leaves. The disease was observed only in Januar...

A new species of rust, Puccinia himachalensis, was recorded on Clematis grata from Himachal Pradesh, India. The species is compared morphologically with other Puccinia species described on the same plant host. A close resemblance was observed with P. wattiana but it differed in morphological characteristics including spore size and septal colourati...

Camptomeris albiziae (Petch) E.W. Mason collected from leaves of Albizia lebek (Linn.) Willd., from Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, India, is described and illustrated. A literature survey revealed that this fungus has not been so far reported from North Western Himalaya and thus represents an extension of distribution of the fungus in India. Details o...

A leaf spot disease caused by Phoma eupyrena Sacc. on Aloe vera was reported from Madhya Pradesh, India. Disease symptoms were observed as irregular to elongated, sunken lesion on both leaf surfaces which later turns creamish brown with maroon margin. The fungal colonies were whitish or light pale to dark grey colour. The pycnidia were glabrous and...

The present paper deals with a new black mildew collected on living leaves of lemon (Citrus aurantifolia, Rutaceae), from Bilaspur, Himachal Pradesh, India. The fungus was identified as the species of Prillieuxina as it contains substraight, branched hyphae without appressoria and setae; orbicular thyriothecia and brown uniseptate ascospores. A cri...

In rainy season of 2010 and 2011, leaves of Aloe vera were found infected with leaf spot disease. The leaves with typical symptoms of disease were collected from different nurseries and botanical gardens of Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India. Disease spots were observed on the adaxial surface and tip of leaves. Based on its morphological and cultural c...

Cite as: Gautam AK & Avasthi S (2016) Mitteriella ziziphi (Ascomycota) on Zizyphus nummularia from the Himachal Pradesh and its distribution extension in India. Tropical Plant Research 3(2): 341–343] Mitteriella, an anamorphic fungus was proposed by Sydow & Mitter (1933). The genus is characterized by short, simple, macronematous, mononematous coni...

A checklist of rust fungi belonging to the genus Puccinia was prepared for Himachal Pradesh, India. All Puccinia species published until 2014 are included in this list. A total of 80 species have been reported on 91 plant species belonging to 33 families. The family Poaceae supports the highest number of species (26 species) followed by Ranunculace...

Three black mildew fungi, namely Schiffnerula celastri, Sarcinella oreophila and Schiffnerula cryptostegiae were reported on Celastrus paniculatus, Carissa sp. and Cryptolepis buchanani respectively and are described and illustrated in detail in the present study. Although, these black mildews have previously been reported from various parts of Ind...

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) have mutualistic relationships with more than 80% of terrestrial plant species. Despite their abundance and wide range of relationship with plant species, AMF have shown low species diversity. AMF have high functional diversity because different combinations of host plants and AMF have different effects on the var...

A powdery mildew infection was observed on Xanthium strumarium during the routine mycological survey in district Mandi of Himachal Pradesh, India. Morphological and microscopic examinations revealed the identity of powdery mildew as Podosphaera xanthii. The white powdery mildew infection was found mixed with brownish intercellular pycnidia during m...

Five powdery mildew fungi: Phyllactinia guttata, Podosphaera xanthii, Erysiphe quercicola, Odium sp. and Sphaerotheca fuliginea on Populus sp., Ageratum conyzoides, Quercus sp., Aegle marmelos and Zinnia elegans respectively, have been collected from Himachal Pradesh, India during a phytopathological survey from September – December, 2013. Detailed...

Typical symptoms of infection were observed on collar and roots of Aloe vera plants in various nurseries and botanical gardens of Gwalior, Madhya Pradesh, India, mainly during rainy and winter seasons of 2010 and 2011. Infected collar showed dark maroon–brown spots of variable size, while root rot infection appeared in the form of browning and deca...