2.9 Pathogen cultivation and infection of tea plants
The pathogenic fungi Neopestalotiopsis sp. and C. gloeosporioides were cultivated in PDA medium in Petri dishes and grown in an incubator at 25°C±3 with a humidity of 75 ± 5%. The pathogenic infection experiment was carried out as follows. Briefly, one-year-oldC. sinensis (SCZ) seedlings were selected, and the leaves in each treatment were wounded with a sterile needle. Five-mm diameter mycelial discs of C. gloeosporioides and Neopestalotiopsis sp. grown on PDA were inoculated into the test leaves. The control leaves were treated with 5-mm diameter pure PDA. Finally, the seedlings were grown in a greenhouse at 25°C and 70% relative humidity. At least six biological replicates were carried out.