Brown leaf spot of rice is one of the most economically important diseases of rice, accounting for yield losses of 4 to 52% (Dhaliwal et al. 2018). A detailed survey of brown leaf spot was conducted in major rice-growing areas of Punjab, Pakistan during 2017-2018. Leaf spot symptoms were brown to purplish-brown, rounded spots, 0.7 to 1.0 cm in diameter, with grayish centers and chlorotic haloes. Disease occurrence was approximately 60% in the visited fields. Lesions were cut into 5 mm2 pieces, surface disinfested in 3% NaOCl for 2 min, rinsed three times with sterile distilled water, transferred to PDA plates, and incubated at 25oC for 1 week. Resulting colonies were powdery to hairy in texture and black in color after 4 to 5 days. Conidiophores were erect, unbranched, apically flexuose, septate, with flat conidial scars on the edges, up to 70 µm long. Conidia were thick walled, smooth and brown with (3-) 5 (-7) distosepta, cylindrical to cigar-shaped, 17-36 × 5-9 µm (Ellis 1971). For molecular identifica...