First report of Pythium myriotylum D., causing damping off and root rot in Chilli Pepper (Capsicum annum L.) from Punjab, Pakistan.

Chilli pepper (Capsicum annuum L.) has significant importance as a cash crop, like other vegetables, and occupies 20% of the total vegetable production area in Pakistan. Pythium spp. are notorious fungal-like agents that may result in 90% plant death either as pre and/or post-emergence damping off. During surveys of nine major chilli growing areas of Punjab, Pakistan in September-November 2015-16, disease incidences ranging from 13.8 to 45.4% was recorded. The symptoms consisted of damping off, and on older seedlings (15 to 30 days post-transplanting) reduced growth, wilting, water-soaking, brown discoloration and root rot. Infected roots were cut into small pieces, surface sterilized using 1% sodium hypochlorite for 3 to 5 min, followed by a rinse with sterile distilled water. Root saps were serially diluted to appropriate dilutions, streaked onto corn meal agar (CMA) medium supplemented with ampicillin (250 mg/l), rifampicin (10 mg/l) and pimaricin (10 mg/l) (Jeffers and Martin 1986) and incubated at 28...