Pak. J. Phytopathol., Vol. 33 (02) 2021. 357-361 DOI: 10.33866/phytopathol.033.02.0711 357 Official publication of Pakistan Phytopathological Society Pakistan Journal of Phytopathology ISSN: 1019-763X (Print), 2305-0284 (Online) http://www.pakps.com EVALUATION OF SESAME (SESAMUM INDICUM L.) GENOTYPES FOR CHARCOAL ROT (MACROPHOMINA PHASEOLINA) RESISTANCE Maria Ghias*, Salsabeel Rauf, Rizwana Qamar, Ahsan M. U. Din, Tariq Mahmood, Muhammad Aftab Directorate of Oilseeds, Ayub Agricultural Research Institute, Faisalabad, Pakistan. A B S T R A C T Charcoal Rot (CR) caused by Macrophomina Phaseolina has adverse effect on sesame crop in Pakistan. Use of host plant resistance is the cheapest and effective disease management strategy. In this research 52 local sesame genotypes were used to evaluate resistance against Charcoal rot disease in two consecutive summer seasons i.e. 2017 and 2018, in a sick field under natural conditions. The results showed that there was notable difference in disease infection percentage (DI%) of the varieties tested in two years. Furthermore, the results indicated that DI% for genotypes tested in 2017 ranged from 06.97% to 50.82%, whereas, DI% for genotypes tested in 2018 remained between 4.91% and 52.63%. In both seasons only 3 sesame lines L-7, ML-6-8/12 and L-100 were classified as a resistant (R) and they exhibited lower means of DI% 8.21 %, 7.84 %, 6.97% andDI% 8.19, 6.15, 4.91 during 2017 and 2018 respectively. On the other hand, 12 lines name Black Til, TH-6, No-7/12, ML-6-8-12, Cluster, 70004, L-41, 20011, 50022, L-24, No-6/12, and TS-3were classified as a moderately resistant (MR).Twenty three lines were grouped into moderately susceptible (MS)class and the susceptible (S) group contains 8 genotypes 95006-2, 97005, 97001, 97002, 92001-52-9, 96008, 16003 and Shan in both seasons but three lines such as 93003, 93005-3-4, and No-56 were moderately resistant MR in first season and moderately susceptible in second season. Similarly the genotypes 9600- 4-1 and Agara were moderately susceptible (MS) in first season and susceptible (S) in second season. Line N-10 was highly susceptible to CR with maximum DI% 50.8 and 52.63 in both seasons. Keywords: Sesame, Charcoal Rot, Resistance, Genotypes, Evaluation. INTRODUCTION Seasame (Sesamum indicum L.) is considered “queen of oilseeds” as its oil has high nutritional and therapeutic value (Biswas et al., 2018). Sesame oil is very stable having a sweet flavor. Its meal is rich in protein makes it suitable for domestic and confectionary purpose. Due to its property of having potent antioxidant and high nutritive value sesame seed is regarded as “Seed of immortality”(Hansen, 2011).Sesame is innately a low- yield plant and its yield is further reduced by presence of different biotic and abiotic stresses. Sesame plants are severely affected by numerous pathogens that cause loss of about 7 million tons of yield per annum (Ara et al., 2017). Charcoal Rot is the most important disease of sesame, caused by Macrophmina Phaseolina (Tassi) Goid .This is a soil borne fungus which can result into a severe yield loss of 5-100% (Meena et al., 2018. According to a recent survey, total loss caused due to infection by M. Phaseolina amounts to 57% of total yield (Bashir et al., 2017). First, it causes infection in roots and lower stem of seedling and damps them. However, at a more advanced stage it can also cause infection in developed plants until the stage of maturity. It develops Charcoal Rot symptoms on major part or the whole plant during hot and dry conditions in particular and thus reduce the plant growth and productivity (Shabana et al., 2014). The fungus reportedly survives as sclerotia formed in crop residues and soil. Moreover, it has also appeared as seed-borne pathogen and such characteristics make it hard to control it (Bedawy and Moharm, 2019). However, certain agricultural practices such as soil Submitted: October 01, 2021 Revised: November 17, 2021 Accepted for Publication: December 10, 2021 * Corresponding Author: Email: mariaghias@gmail.com © 2017 Pak. J. Phytopathol. All rights reserved.