Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) cultivation in Pakistan faces challenges, with black scurf disease caused by Rhizoctonia solani Kühn being a significant concern. Conventional methods like chemical fungicides partially control it, but an effective solution is lacking. This study explores the potential of biofertilizers and soil amendments from Asteraceae weed biomass to manage the disease. Two potato varieties, Karoda and Sante, were chosen, and two biofertilizers, Fertibio and Feng Shou, were tested alone or with Xanthium strumarium biomass. Disease pressure was highest in the positive control, with significant reduction by chemical fungicide. X. strumarium biomass also decreased disease incidence significantly. Fertibio showed better efficacy than Feng Shou. Physiological and biochemical attributes of plants improved with biofertilizer and biomass application. Tuber weight, photosynthetic pigments, total protein content, and antioxidant enzymes (CAT, POX, and PPO) were positively correlated. Combined application of Fertibio and S. marianum biomass effectively managed black scurf disease. These eco-friendly alternatives could enhance disease management and yield. Future research should explore their cost-effectiveness, commercialization, and safety.

Boron (B) is an essential micronutrient for the growth, development, and maintenance of cellular integrity in vascular plants, and is especially important in cell wall synthesis and reproductive development. Rapeseed (Brassica napus L.), one of the dominant oil crops globally, has a high boron demand and its yield is dramatically decreased under B-deficiency conditions. Rapeseed, which is very sensitive to boron deficiency, suffers from reduced growth and reproductive development, ultimately causing severe yield losses. Here, we reviewed the present state of knowledge on the physiological function of boron in rapeseed, mechanisms of boron uptake and transport, specific effects of boron deficiency in rapeseed, and approaches to alleviate boron deficiency in rapeseed at the agronomical and molecular levels. A specific focus is given to recent molecular breakthroughs and agronomic approaches that may improve boron efficiency. The review focuses on practices that may alleviate the problems caused by boron-deficient soils by investigating the genetic and physiological mechanisms of boron tolerance. In summary, this review describes the integration of molecular information with practical agronomy as an important aspect of breeding future nutrient-efficient rapeseed cultivars that can sustain increasing yields while being cultivated in regions with boron-deficient soils.

Anthracnose of olive fruit caused by Colletotrichum acutatum was a severe epidemic disease in Pakistan that occurred in September 2020. The estimated disease incident was recorded as 59%. Anthracnose causes a significant reduction in yield and quality traits. Anthracnose has been found in several orchards. Agricultural practices, environmental factors, and disease aggressiveness vary between orchards. Therefore, we looked at spore size, cultural traits, morphological variation, growth pattern, and pathogenicity of different strains of C. acutatum from various orchards. Molecular and phylogenetic analysis confirmed the isolated strains as C. acutatum. In all, 15 C. acutatum isolates from olive orchards were tested for susceptibility to four commercial fungicides (P < 0.001). The examined isolates’ in vitro fungicide sensitivity varied with fungicide concentration. The concentration at which conidial germination was hindered by 50% compared with the control values was observed for difenoconazole, tebuconazole, carbendazim, and cyprodinil, ranging from 0.12 to 2.69 g ml⁻¹. Based on the findings of the fungal growth inhibition studies, carbendazim has been found to be the only fungicide that effectively reduces (P < 0.001) anthracnose caused by C. acutatum strains. Additionally, results revealed that preharvest site treatments of different fungicides greatly decreased anthracnose infections on olive fruit (70 to 90%), and postharvest site applications significantly reduced disease prevalence and severity (75 to 95%). The fungicide carbendazim significantly decreased pre- and postharvest anthracnose infection on olive cultivars. This study suggests that the latter compound might be used to control olive anthracnose in Pakistan while lowering environmental impact and fungicide resistance.

Colletotrichum gossypii is a causal agent of anthracnose in upland cotton (Gossypii hirsutum). C. gossypii belongs to the C. gloeosporioides species complex. However, the high level of genetic similarity among the species within the C. gloeosporioides species complex makes the development of a diagnostic assay for C. gossypii challenging. Furthermore, the spore size and cultural characteristics of C. gossypii from different geographical areas can vary. In this study, we examined the morphological variance, growth pattern, and pathogenicity of C. gossypii and developed a molecular diagnostic assay to detect C. gossypii in cotton plants from different regions of China. To overcome any ambiguity in morphological and pathogenic characteristics, a set of primers targeting the β-tubulin (TUB) gene of C. gossypii was designed. Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNP) were used to identify C. gossypii at the species level using DNA sequence alignments of the TUB gene. The SPSCG/F and SPSCG/R primer pair only amplified C. gossypii, and was able to amplify C. gossypii in mixtures of other Colletotrichum spp., even when DNA concentrations were up to 10 times lower than that of the other species. This is the first report of the development of SNP-based markers for the specific identification of C. gossypii.

The genus Pythium belongs to the soilborne Oomycetes. This research was conducted to characterize Pythium species from Punjab, Pakistan’s agricultural lands. Total of eleven Pythium (P. debaryanum, P. aphanidermatum, P. spinosum, P. irregulare, P. myriotylum, P. acanthicum, P. vexans, P. graminicola, P. dissotocum, P. echinulatum, and P. insidiosum) were isolated from the samples. Biometrics revealed the maximum values for aplerotic index were 59.8% for P. acanthicum and P. dissotocum while maximum values for ooplast index (39.6%) were calculated in the case of P. myriotylum and P. vexans. Molecular characterization, amplification of the ITS region revealed a genome size of approximately 570 bp. NCBI accession numbers for each species were acquired, and each species has shown 98–99% similarity with their reference sequences in the gene bank database. The research is a much-needed step to identify these pathogenic fungi morphologically and molecularly to understand its epidemiology and develop some potential management strategies.