DOI: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.8217510 GU JOURNAL OF PHYTOSCIENCES GU. J. Phytosci. 3(3): 172-178 (2023) << Two New Records of Aspergillus From Rhizospheric Soil of Potato Crops of Chichawatni, Pakistan Two New Records of Aspergillus (A. penicilloides & A. uvarum) From Rhizospheric Soil of Potato Crops of Chichawatni, Pakistan Muzammal Abbas, Nousheen Yousaf*, Fakiha Zahid and Shumaila Rasheed Department of Botany, Government College University, Lahore, Katchery Road Lahore, Pakistan Abstract In this study two species of Aspergillus (A. penicilloides & A. uvarum) belonging to family Trichocomaceae of filamentous fungi have been isolated from rhizosphere soil of potato crops of Chichawatni. For isolation of fungi, culturing methods including direct plate method and dilution plate method on PDA medium have been used. After obtaining fungal cultures, species have been characterized, described, illustrated and identified on morphological basis. Morphological study included macroscopic and macroscopic characterization of fungal taxa which are presented here as new records for Pakistan. Light micrographs of microscopic details of these taxa have also been provided. Keywords: Culturing; Filamentous Fungi; Micrographs; New Record; Rhizophore; Taxonomy 1. Introduction: Pakistan has vast agricultural resources, fertile and well irrigated land, four different seasons and centuries old farming tradition of our forefathers. Due to these qualities, government attributed agriculture field is the major driver and carry central importance in Pakistan’s economy (Noornai et al., 2016). Potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) is a significant crop of Pakistan due to its enormous use in our daily diet. Without potato vegetable basket of Pakistan is incomplete (Ahmad et al., 1995). Soil fungal flora is an important component of soil because they contribute to form more biomass of soil than bacteria (Soni & Sharma, 2014). Some plants form mycorrhizal association with fungi that provide nutrients to plants by extracting from the soil (Ingham, 1976). But some fungi are pathogenic and have adverse effect on the diversity of plants. However, most of the fungi present in the soil act as decomposers and help in nutrient *Corresponding author Tel.: 000000000 E-mail address: dr.nousheenyousaf@gcu.edu.pk © 2023 (Accepted for publication in May 2023) Published by Department of Botany, Selection and/or peer-review under supervision of Executive Committee, Ghazi University, DG Khan, 32200 Pakistan recycling. The common methods used for the identification of soil-borne filamentous fungi are the colonies morphology and their microscopic characteristics. The identification method also depends upon the reproductive structures which are produced by fungi. But if the fungi do not produce morphologically distinct characters, then other identification methods are used like molecular DNA sequencing, which is the rapid detection and accurate identification method of fungi (Borman et al., 2008). In this investigation, two fungal taxa have been isolated from rhizospheric soil and identified on morphological basis and microscopic characterization. The isolated genus Aspergillus are anamorphic stages of the genus and belong to family Trichocomaceae, order Eurotiales, class Eurotiomycetes and division Ascomycota. These are the fungi with a high morphological and genetic variability (Thom & Raper, @ 2023 by the author, this article is an open access article distributed Under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/)