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Freshwater resources are severely declining due to climate change. However, the use of water saving strategies is a prime objective of this century. Many techniques have been developed to cope this core issue. Among them, Partial rhizosphere drying (PRD) being one of the effective approaches plays a major role to reduce the harmful effects of water deficit stress. In PRD, the rhizosphere is divided in two equal halves, each portion irrigated in alternate scheduling to save 50% water. This study was designed to evaluate the performance of five cotton varieties (FH-142, IUB-222, IUB-13, MM-58 and NOOR) under full irrigation (FI) and drought (partial root zone drying, PRD). Results revealed that MM-58 performed the best among other varieties, particularly through improved rate of stomata conductance (32.17%), photosynthesis (24.24%), water-related parameters (16.69%, 36.88% and 43.34% for LRWC, LOP and LTP respectively) and antioxidants activity (19.86%, 43.90%, 20.51% and 21.11% for SOD, POD, CAT and APX respectively) compared to NOOR. Moreover, higher values of growth (PH, LAI) and water related parameters were found in FI while osmolyte accumulation (Sugar and Proline) and antioxidants (SOD, POD, CAT, APX) were more in PRD. In crux, the above traits are the best indicators to screen out any crop varieties especially cotton at the early developmental stage to save time in breeding programs.

Background: In orthopedic trauma acromioclavicular joint disruptions are among the most commonly faced injuries that could be due to sports or road traffic accidents. These are injuries in which treatment is always controversial especially in type III of Rockwood type. These injuries accounts for 12% of the total shoulder injuries with young male patients have predominance. Aim: To assess the operational result after acromioclavicular joint fixation with Modified Weaver Dunn procedure using tight roping technique with two endobuttons. Place and duration of study: Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Govt. Shahdrah Teaching Hospital Lahore and Lahore General Hospital Lahore for one year from 01st July 2019 to 30th June 2020. Methodology: This is a descriptive case series study of 10 patients in the combined settings of Department of Orthopedic Surgery Govt. Shahdrah Teaching Hospital Lahore and Lahore General Hospital Lahore. All the cases were operated by a single surgeon using Modified WD procedure with endo-buttons and tight roping technique and operational result was assessed by using Oxford shoulder scoring system (OSS), this system was used in pre-operative and post-operative settings and results were compared. SPSS version 23 & paired t test was used for the analysis of results of all the patients in both pre and post-operative settings. Results: The patient’s average age was 34±2. Road traffic accidents and sports injuries to the shoulders were mechanism of injuries. In 70% of cases dominant side was involved. The significant p value is found in the pre and post-operative oxford shoulder score. Conclusion: There is a consequential improvement in OSS in all the patients. However small number of follow ups and lesser patients were the reasons of our limited study that need to be looked upon in near future. Keywords: Weaver Dunn (WD), Acromioclavicular (AC), Coraco-Clavicular ligaments (CC), Oxford shoulder score (OSS)

Water scarcity constrains global cotton production. However, partial root-zone drying (PRD) and mulching can be used as good techniques to save water and enhance crop production, especially in arid regions. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of mulching for water conservation in an arid environment under PRD and to further assess the osmotic adjustment and enzymatic activities for sustainable cotton production. The study was carried out for 2 years in field conditions using mulches (NM = no mulch, BPM = black plastic mulch at 32 kg ha-1, WSM = wheat straw mulch at 3 tons ha-1, CSM = cotton sticks mulch at 10 tons ha-1) and two irrigation levels (FI = full irrigation and PRD (50% less water than FI). High seed cotton yield (SCY) achieved in FI+WSM (4457 and 4248 kg ha-1 in 2017 and 2018, respectively) and even in PRD+WSM followed by BPM>CSM>NM under FI and PRD for both years. The higher SCY and traits observed in FI+WSM and PRD+WSM compared with the others were attributed to the improved water use efficiency and gaseous exchange traits, increased hormone production (ABA), osmolyte accumulation, and enhanced antioxidants to scavenge the excess reactive oxygen. Furthermore, better cotton quality traits were also observed under WSM either with FI or PRD irrigation regimes. Mulches applications found effective to control the weeds in the order as BPM>WSM>CSM. In general, PRD can be used as an effective stratagem to save moisture along with WSM, which ultimately can improve cotton yield in the water-scarce regions under arid climatic regions. It may prove as a good adaptation strategy under current and future water shortage scenarios of climate change.

Aim: Study was carried out to see the effectiveness of the inguinal hernioplasty by Lichtenstein technique in our hospital which is located in the periphery. Methods: This prospective study was conducted from Aug 2017 to Oct 2021. All male patients older than 18 years with primary inguinal hernia were included in the study by convenient sampling technique. Patients with strangulated, obstructed and recurrent inguinal hernia and patients with obstructive urinary symptoms were excluded from the study. Written consent was taken. Patients were operated under suitable anesthesia (General/Spinal). Standard open inguinal mesh hernioplasty was done by Lichtenstein technique. In order to detect long term outcome of the procedure, a planned scheduled follow-up of the operated cases were done in the OPD. Demographic data along with short & late term complications were recorded and analyzed with Excel 2013. Results: A total of 295 inguinal mesh hernioplasty were done. Right sided hernia was seen in 60.34%, left side hernia was seen 34.58% and bilateral hernia was seen in 5.08% of the patients. Indirect hernia was observed in 65.08%, direct hernia was seen in 32.88% and pantaloon hernia was seen in 2.03%. Hepatitis C virus infection was found in 9.83% of the patients and hepatitis B virus was found in 2.71%. Scrotal swelling was observed in 1.36% of the patients which was treated conservatively, seroma was observed in 1.02% of the patients which was absorbed spontaneously and no intervention was done. Hematoma was seen in one patient having hepatitis C virus infection. During follow-up of one year chronic groin pain was seen in 2.37% patients which resolved conservatively. In long term follow-up no infection, chronic groin pain and recurrence was reported. Conclusion: Effectiveness of open inguinal mesh hernioplasty by Lichtenstein technique is far superior to other techniques. Lichtenstein technique is safe, easy to learn and it does not require any special equipments. We strongly recommend this technique in periphery hospital where laparoscopic facilities are still not available. Keywords: Lichtenstein repair, Shouldice technique, Inguinal mesh hernioplasty.

Objective: To evaluate long term results of paraumbilical hernioplasty by onlay technique. Material & Methods: This prospective study was started in Jan 2017 and completed in Oct 2021. A total number of 196 patients having paraumbilical hernia were included in the study by convenient sampling. Patients with recurrent, strangulated and obstructed hernia as well as patients with ulcerated skin over the hernia were excluded from the study. All the patients were operated under general anesthesia with muscle relaxants. A non-absorbable standard prolene mesh (15x15 cm or 30x30 cm) was used and fixed with prolene 3-0 suture. Redivac drain was used over the mesh for minimum of three days. After discharge, all the operated cases were advised to visit the outpatient department after one week, one month, three months, six months, one year and two years. Maximum follow-up was two years and minimum was one year to assess the long term complication including recurrence. Demographic data along with diagnosis, complication, were collected and analyzed with Excel 2019. Results: Total 196 patients were operated for paraumbilical hernia. From which 53 were male and 143 were female. Minimum age was 18 years old and oldest patient was 78 years old. Average age was 40.19± 10 years, median age was 38 years. Seroma was seen in 04 patients. Superficial wound infection was observed in 02 patient no deep-seated infection was reported in our study. During three months of follow-up, numbness was noted in 03 patients and 02 patients had pain at the operation site during manual work. After two years recurrence was observed in two female patients, who failed to control their weight. Conclusion: Paraumbilical hernia is very common presentation in female patients. In order to prevent complication of hernia like, incarceration, strangulation and obstruction, early repair of the hernia is recommended in all the cases. Onlay mesh hernioplasty is one of the safest techniques which is relatively easy procedure, has a short learning curve with promising results. It has a low recurrence rate. Keywords: Onlay Mesh hernioplasty, Paraumbilical Hernia, PUH.

Water shortage is the main limitation for agricultural production in many parts of the world. Drought or unavailability of water may seriously limit plant growth as well as yield. A pot experiment ...

Drought is a detrimental abiotic stress limiting wheat growth and yield. Harmful impacts of drought stress can be ameliorated by the use of different growth enhancers either applied as soil amendme...

Drought is the main abiotic stress that severely reduces wheat yield across the globe. To cope up this situation, use of organic amendments is the best option. Biochar is an organic soil amendment that is used to improve soil carbon, organic contents, improve water holding capacity of soil, enhance soil fertility and maintain desired soil. Present study was carried out under semi-arid climatic conditions to mitigate the adverse effects of drought at critical wheat growth stages i.e., tillering (DTS), flowering (DFS) and grain filling stage (DGFS) by using three biochar treatments viz. B0 = Control, B1 = 27.88 g kg−1 and B2 = 37.18 g kg−1. Results revealed that drought stress negatively affected the growth and yield attributes of wheat at all critical growth stages, while, grain filling stage was found the most sensitive stage resulted severe yield reduction. However, biochar application significantly mitigated the detrimental effects of drought by improving number of fertile tillers (19.50%), spike length (6.52%), number of grains per spike (3.07%), thousand grain weight (6.42%), biological (9.43%) and economic yield (13.92%) as compared to control treatment. Moreover, biochar significantly improved water use efficiency and physiological attributes of drought stressed wheat. Principal component analysis linked different scales of study and demonstrated the potential of physio-biochemical traits to explain the wheat yield variations under drought condition with response to biochar application. In crux, biochar application (37.18 g kg−1) can be used as an effective stratagem to achieve improved wheat grain yield through mitigating the adverse effects of drought stress.

Drought stress constricts crop production in the world. Increasing human population and predicted temperature increase owing to global warming will lead ruthless problems for agricultural production in near future. Hence, use of high yielding genotypes having drought tolerance and scrutinize of drought sensitive local cultivars for making them tolerant may be the proficient approaches to cope its detrimental outcomes. The current study was executed during 20015-2016 and 2016-2017 in field using randomized complete block design under factorial arrangements on 50 wheat genotypes for exploring their sensitivity and tolerance against drought. Some of the attributes of grain yield and drought tolerance indices were recorded. Grain yield showed negative correlations with tolerance index (TOL), drought index (DI) and stress susceptibility index (SSI) while positive correlation with mean productivity (MP) and geometric mean productivity (GMP) under drought condition. These findings depicted that tolerant genotypes could be chosen by high MP and GMP values and low SSI and TOL values. Based on the results, genotypes GA-02, Faisalabad-83, 9444, Sehar-06, Pirsabak-04 and Kohistan-97 were more tolerant and recognized as suitable for both normal and drought conditions. Genotypes of Chenab-00, Kohsar-95, Parwaz-94 and Kohenoor-83 confirmed more sensitive due to high grain yield loss under drought stress.

Climate change is imposing high temperature resulting in prolonged drought episodes and shrinking of fresh water resources across the globe. In this scenario, even drought tolerant crops like quino...

Cereals and pulses are consumed as a staple food in low-income countries for the fulfillment of daily dietary requirements and as a source of micronutrients. However, they are failing to offer balanced nutrition due to deficiencies of some essential compounds, macronutrients, and micronutrients, i.e., cereals are deficient in iron, zinc, some essential amino acids, and quality proteins. Meanwhile, the pulses are rich in anti-nutrient compounds that restrict the bioavailability of micronutrients. As a result, the population is suffering from malnutrition and resultantly different diseases, i.e., anemia, beriberi, pellagra, night blindness, rickets, and scurvy are common in the society. These facts highlight the need for the biofortification of cereals and pulses for the provision of balanced diets to masses and reduction of malnutrition. Biofortification of crops may be achieved through conventional approaches or new breeding techniques (NBTs). Conventional approaches for biofortification cover mineral fertilization through foliar or soil application, microbe-mediated enhanced uptake of nutrients, and conventional crossing of plants to obtain the desired combination of genes for balanced nutrient uptake and bioavailability. Whereas, NBTs rely on gene silencing, gene editing, overexpression, and gene transfer from other species for the acquisition of balanced nutritional profiles in mutant plants. Thus, we have highlighted the significance of conventional and NBTs for the biofortification of cereals and pulses. Current and future perspectives and opportunities are also discussed. Further, the regulatory aspects of newly developed biofortified transgenic and/or non-transgenic crop varieties via NBTs are also presented.

Whiteflies, Bemisia tabaci Gennadius (Aleyrodidae: Hemiptera), are a polyphagous economically destructive pest of several solanaceous crops around the world. Many secondary metabolites are synthesized by different biotrophic and necrotrophic fungi which are capable of inducing systemic resistance in plants against various phytophagous pests. The present laboratory work demonstrated the anti-insect impact of a protein extracted and purified partially from an entomopathogenic fungus (EPF) Lecanicillium lecanii (Zimmermann) against B. tabaci. Three different concentrations (i.e., 7.43, 11.15, and 22.31 μg mL−1) of this protein were bioassayed to assess its effect on the fecundity rate of B. tabaci on cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) plants. Furthermore, the possible implication of this fungal protein in defense pathways of cotton plants was evaluated by determining the expression profiles of salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) pathways related to major genes through reverse transcription qPCR (RT-qPCR). According to the results, all protein concentrations exerted a significant (F3, 252 = 62.51, p ≤ 0.001) and negative impact on the fecundity rate of B. tabaci females. At the highest protein concentration (22.31 μg mL−1), the minimum rate of fecundity (i.e., 2.46 eggs female−1day−1) of B. tabaci was noted on the seventh day, whereas fecundity rates for the other two protein concentrations (i.e., 11.15 and 7.43 μg mL−1) were, respectively, 3.06 and 3.90 eggs day−1 female−1. The maximum rate of fecundity (6.01 eggs female−1day−1) was recorded in untreated (control) treatments. In addition, the foliar application of L. lecanii derived protein significantly upregulated all SA linked genes (OPR3, PPO1 and COI1) and slightly triggered up the JA linked genes (LOX1, UBQ7 and AOS) in the cotton plants. These findings revealed that this L. lecanii extracted partially purified protein triggered systemic resistance against B. tabaci in the cotton plants, proposing its putative effectiveness as an innovative biological control technique against B. tabaci and other phloem-feeding hemipteran pests. Nevertheless, further investigations such as purification and molecular and functional characterization of this L. lecanii-derived partially purified protein are required.

Despite recycled aggregate concrete (RAC) presenting economic and environmental benefits, it has inferior fresh and hardened state properties. Recycled coarse aggregates (RCA) obtained from demolished concrete demand more water to satisfy their absorption capacity than natural aggregates; therefore, concrete incorporating the higher volume of RCA leads to inferior properties. Using a suitable plasticizer, water demand of RAC can be reduced as noted by many researchers; hence, properties of RAC are improved. Moreover, sugarcane molasses is a by-product of sugar mills and has water-reducing properties; therefore, it can be used as a cheap substitute of conventional plasticizers. In this study, the influence of four different concentrations of molasses (0%, 0.25%, 0.50% and 1% by weight of cement) on the properties of RAC is investigated using three different water–cement (W/C) ratios (0.45, 0.50 and 0.55). Workability, fresh density, compressive strength, water absorption, sorptivity coefficient and chloride penetrations are investigated. The results encouraged the use of 0.25–0.50% molasses in RAC for maximum strength and durability. Blank and molasses-added mixes showed maximum strength and durability at 0.55 and 0.50 W/C ratios, respectively.

Recycled coarse aggregates (RCA) and fly ash (FA) are materials with least to very low global warming potential. Considering long term strength and durability, various studies have suggested to use RCA in concrete with FA. This research paper deals with the strength and economic performance of concrete made with individual and combined incorporation of FA and RCA. Nine different mixtures of concrete were prepared by varying the incorporation levels of RCA and FA. 0% RCA, 50% RCA and 100% RCA were used in concrete with three different levels of FA (0%FA, 20%FA, and 40%FA). The compressive strength of each mixture of concrete was determined at the age of 3, 28, 90 and 180 days. To evaluate economic performance cost of 1 m3 of each mixture of concrete was compared to that of the control mixture having 0% RCA and 0% FA. Results showed that RCA was detrimental to the compressive strength of concrete at all ages, whereas, FA reduced early strength but improved the strength at later ages of testing i.e. 90 and 180 days. FA plus RCA mixes also showed lower early age strength but gained higher strength than conventional concrete at the age of 180 days. RCA did not reduce the cost of concrete effectively. FA despite having a very high transportation cost, it reduced the cost of concrete efficiently. FA did not only reduce the cost of binder but also lower the demand of plasticizer by improving workability. Cost to strength ratio (CSR) analysis also indicated that FA significantly improve the combined economic and strength performance of RCA concrete mixes.

Wheat [Triticum aestivum L. (Poaceae)] is the staple diet of people in Pakistan. It is attacked by many types of pests. Therefore the purpose of this study was to assess the impact of climate change on the ecology and epidemiology of various wheat pests in Punjab, Pakistan. Results indicate that maximum weeds hot spots 242 (5.98%) Phalaris minor, 45 (1.18%) wild oat and 203 (5.01%) broad leaf weeds were noted in 2015. Aphid 31 (0.86%) hot spots were recorded in 2016 while maximum army worm 13 (0.26%) hot spots were noted in 2017. Maximum 70 (1.73%) spots of yellow rust and 85 (2.10%) hot spots of brown rust were observed during 2015 while 84 (4.16%) spots of loose smut were observed during 2017. ANOVA shows that years have no significant difference (P > 0.05) but weeks have significant effect on occurrence of these pest incidences except brown rust. But regression ANOVA was significant (P ≤ 0.05) and regression models equations have been developed on the bases of recorded data. Pest incidence was taken as dependent variable Y and weather factors i.e. minimum temperature as X1, maximum temperature as X2, relative humidity as X3 and rain fall as X4 were taken as independent variables. This study will help in recommendations for moving forward aiming at integration of biology of rust and smut diseases of wheat with changing climate for development of resistant varieties for resilient and durable management of these pathogens.

Objective: To study the spectrum of histopathological lesions found on surgically resected gallbladder to quantify the various abnormalities in gallbladder specimen. Methodology: A descriptive observational study was carried out from Nov 2017 to Oct 2021. All the patients undergoing emergency and elective cholecystectomy regardless of age and sex were included in the study. After cholecystectomy, gallbladder specimen along with history and ultrasound findings was sent for histopathology to our own institution. Department of histopathology has the standardized method to process the gallbladder specimens. Demographic data along with diagnosis, ultrasound finding and histopathology report were collected and analyzed with Excel 2019. Results: Total number of patients in this study was 395, out of which 93 patients were male and 302 patients were female. Average age of our patients was 43.05± 13 years. Acute calculus cholecystitis was found in 55 (13.92%) patients, 298 (75.44) patents had chronic calculus cholecystitis, empyema was found in 15 (3.80) patients, cholestrolosis was found in 5 (1.27%) patients, gallbladder polyp was found in 02 (0.51%) patients, gangrenous gall bladder was found in 01 (0.25%) patient and adenocarcinoma in situ was found in 01 (0.25%) patient. Conclusion: Our study shows that, chronic cholecystitis is the most common presentation followed by acute cholecystitis in surgically resected gallbladders. Females are predominantly suffering from the gallbladder diseases. The frequency of malignant lesion was very low. Keywords: Gallbladder-histopathology, Acute Cholecystitis, Chronic Cholecystitis, Gallstones.

Brown leaf spot of rice is one of the major seed-borne diseases and can diminish grain production up to 52% (Barnwal et al. 2013). In 2018, infected leaf samples showing the typical symptoms of bro...

Aim: To determine the outcome of extra-articular distal radius fracture treated with plaster splintage. Methodology: This descriptive case series study was done in the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, at Jinnah Hospital, Lahore from 01-08-210 to 31-01-2011 which includes 50 patients who fulfill the inclusion criteria of age 40-80 years of either sex. After the approval of Hospital Ethical Committee, informed consent taken from every patient. Results: The average age was 63.70±11.64 years. Seventeen (34%) patients were male and 33 (66%) patients were female. On visual analogue scale of pain, 23 (46%) patients had no pain and 27 (54%) patients had mild pain. Forty six percent patients shows excellent results and 54% patient shows good results. Conclusion: Closed reduction and plaster splintage was used to assess the functional outcome in distal radius extraarticular fractures. Overall results were excellent in 64% cases and good in 54% cases in the distal radial extraarticular fractures treated with plaster splintage. Keywords: Distal radius extraarticular fractures, Plaster splintage, Visual deformity, Pain and grip strength.

Background The red flour beetle, Tribolium castaneum (Herbst) (Coleoptera: Tenebrionidae), is a serious pest of stored grain commodities worldwide which results in considerable losses to stored wheat, Triticum aestivum (Linn.). Main body The present laboratory bioassay was carried out to examine the efficiency of the fungus, Beauveria bassiana (Bals.) formulation (Racer TM), and Neem extract (NE), Eucalyptus extract (EE), and Tobacco extract (TE) against 3rd instar larvae of T. castaneum. The fungal formulation was applied at 0.3 × 108, 0.6 × 108, and 0.9 × 108 conidia kg−1 of the crushed wheat grains; as well, it was mixed separately with 5% concentrations of each plant extract under the laboratory conditions of 30 ± 2 °C and 65 ± 5% RH. Mortality rate of the tested larvae was enumerated after regular intervals of times. Mortality of the larvae increased at the highest combined concentrations of the fungal conidial formulation and the plant extracts rather than their single treatments. The highest mortality rate of the larvae (71.32%) was recorded at the highest concentration binary mixture of (Racer TM +NE), whereas relatively the lowest mortality rate (15.54%) was enumerated in the combined treatments of (Racer TM +NE). Furthermore, the highest separate concentration of B. bassiana (0.9 × 108 conidia/ml) persistently resulted in more larval mortality (32.68%) of 3rd instar larvae of T. castaneum than the plant extracts (7.52, 9.89, and 14.61%), respectively. A noticeably greater rate of mycosis and sporulation was counted in the larvae of the insect in separate treatments of B. bassiana than in its combined applications with the plant extracts. The highest mycosis (85.13%) and sporulation (160.12 conidia/ml) was detected in the treatment, where the lowest concentration of B. bassiana (0.3 × 108 conidia/ml) was used, alone. Conclusion Hence, it was concluded that integrated use of these two bio-pesticides plus the fungus can be helpful in the integrated pest management program of T. castaneum.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) is one of the highly consumed cereal grain crops in Pakistan. In September 2017, leaf samples of cultivar Basmati-385 showing brown to dark brown spots (5 to 9 mm in diameter) that were oval or cylindrical in shape with a chlorotic yellow halo and grayish tan centers were collected from fields near the University of Agriculture, Faisalabad (31.43633 N 73.05981 E). Average disease incidence was 69% in six rice fields that were sampled for diseased plants with visible symptoms. To isolate the pathogen, from 20 diseased leaves, 5 mm2 segments from the margins of lesions were cut, rinsed with sterile distilled water (SDW), surface disinfected by 70% ethanol and again rinsed with SDW. The samples were dried on sterilized filter paper discs, plated on potato dextrose agar (PDA) and incubated at 27°C for 5 to 7 days. Twelve isolates were sub-cultured and single-sporing was performed to obtain pure cultures. Fungal isolates with light to dark gray in color, thick or fluffy aerial mycelium, circular and smooth margins were obtained after 7 days of incubation. Conidia were 47-83 μm × 10-17 μm (n=100), with 4 to 10 distosepta, dark or olivaceous brown, straight or moderately curved, and the cells at the ends occasionally looked paler than those in the middle. Conidiophore of the fungus were simple, smooth, cylindrical, septate, and straight to flexuous. These characteristics resembled those of Bipolaris zeicola (Stout) Shoemaker (Manamgoda et al. 2014). For molecular identification, genomic DNA (isolate SU-11) was extracted and the internal transcribed spacer (ITS) region, large subunit (LSU) of ribosomal DNA, translation elongation factor (tef), glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase (gpd), and RNA polymerase II second largest subunit (rpb2) genes were amplified and sequenced by using the primers ITS1-F/ITS4-R (White et al. 1990), LROR-F/LR5-R (Schoch et al. 2012), EF1-983F/EF1-2218R (Rehner and Buckley 2005), GPD1F/GPD2R (Berbee et al. 1999), and 5F2/7CR (O'Donnell et al. 2007), respectively. BLASTn searches showed 100% homology with the LSU and rpb2 sequences of B. zeicola (GenBank Accession Nos. MH876201 and HF934842) and 98-99% similarity with ITS, tef, and gpd sequences of B. zeicola (GenBank Accession Nos. KM230398, KM093752 and KM034815). The sequences of ITS, LSU, tef, gpd, and rpb2 were deposited in GenBank with accession numbers MN871712, MN877767, MN867685, MN904511 and MT349837, respectively. To fulfill Koch's postulates, 25 greenhouse-grown rice plants (cv. Basmati-385) at 2- to 3-leaf stage were spray inoculated with a spore suspension (105 spores/ml; isolate SU-11) prepared in SDW. Plants were covered with plastic wraps to maintain humid conditions for 24 hours and incubated at 27°C for one week. Similarly, ten non-inoculated plants sprayed with SDW served as controls. After one week, observed symptoms were similar to those from natural infections and no disease symptoms were observed on the non-inoculated plants. The experiment was repeated twice and the pathogen was re-isolated from the infected leaves and characterized morphologically. Globally, B. zeicola has also been reported to cause the leaf spot of rice and maize plants (Sivanesan 1987; Kang et al. 2018). To our information, this is the first report of B. zeicola causing brown leaf spot of rice in Pakistan. The increasing risk of this fungal pathogen in the rice-growing areas of Pakistan need a rigorous exploration and outreach effort to develop effective management practices.

Citrus reticulata cv. 'Kinnow' mandarin is the most popular and widely grown fruit crop in Pakistan. During 2017, a survey was conducted to the local citrus fruit markets of Faisalabad, Pakistan. Citrus fruits (n=50) exhibiting stem end rot and fruit rot were collected with 15% disease incidence. The stem end region showed light to dark brown lesions and white fungal growth was also observed in the severely infected fruit. Infected fruit were excised into 2mm2 segments, surface disinfected with 1% NaClO, rinsed with sterilized water and dried. Later, these tissues were placed on potato dextrose agar (PDA) medium and subsequently incubated at 25 °C. Purified isolates produced white colonies with beige pigmentation. The frequency of fungal isolation was 47%. Microscopic observations revealed that macroconidia (n=50) had 5 to 6 septations, with a prominent dorsiventral curvature, tapered and elongated apical cell, and a foot shape basal cell. The macroconidia were measuring 22 to 45 × 2.9 to 4.3 µm with an average of 31 × 3.6 µm. However, microconidia were not observed. Chlamydospores were globose, intercalary, solitary, or in pairs, appearing in chains (Leslie and Summerell 2006). For molecular identification, DNA was extracted from all isolates. The internal transcribed spacer region (ITS) ITS1/4 (White et al. 1990), translation elongation factor-1 alpha (TEF) EF1/2 (O'Donnell et al. 1998), and RNA polymerase II subunit 1 (RPB1) (O'Donnell et al. 2013) were amplified using PCR and the product was subsequently sequenced. Based on BLAST analysis, the isolate was identified as Fusarium equiseti (FUS-21). The sequences of the representative isolate FUS-21 were deposited in the GenBank with accession numbers (ITS, MH581300), (TEF, MK203749), and (RPB1, MW596599) showing more than 99% similarity with ITS accession GQ505683, TEF accession GQ505594, and 100% to RPB1 accession JX171481. To determine the pathogenicity, 40 healthy surface disinfested citrus fruit were taken. The fruit were inoculated by creating artificial wounds on the surface with a sterilized needle and 10 μL of 105 spores/mL was deposited in the wounds. In case of control fruit were inoculated with 10 μL sterilized distilled water only, and incubated at 25 °C. All fruit inoculated with the putative pathogen, developed symptoms like the original fruit from which they were isolated. The pathogenicity test was repeated twice. Visible white mycelium appeared at the stem end region and the fruits became dried as the infection progressed. However, the control fruit remained asymptomatic. The pathogen was re-isolated from infected fruit and identified based on morphometric and molecular analysis. Previously we have reported F. oxysporum causing citrus fruit rot in Pakistan (Moosa et al. 2020). This is the first report of F. equiseti causing post-harvest rot of citrus fruits in Pakistan. Kinnow is an important fruit crop of Pakistan with huge export value the management of Fusarium rot is quite important to save the loss of fresh produce.