A total of twenty BRRI rice varieties i.e., BRRI dhan 56 to BRRI dhan 75 were collected from Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) to detect the seed borne fungi associated with seeds of selected rice varieties. Four antagonistic potentials of soil fungi comprising three species of Aspergillus viz., A. flavus Link, A. fumigatus Fresenius, A. niger van Tieghem and species of Trichoderma viride Pers. were used against six important rice pathogenic fungi (i.e. Bipolaris oryzae (Breda de Haan) Shoemaker, Curvularia lunata (Wakker) Boedijn, Fusarium equiseti (Corda) Saccardo. Fusarium fujikuroi Nirenberg, Microdochium fisheri Hern.-Restr. and Crous. and Nigrospora oryzae (Berk. & Br.) for the purpose of biological control. In dual culture colony interaction out of four antagonistic fungi, T. viride showed the highest growth inhibition (87.15%) against Fusarium fujikuroi. The maximum inhibition (82.63%) of radial growth of the test pathogens were observed in case of T. viride owing to the volatile metabolites. On the other hand, the highest amount for the effect of non-volatile metabolites of T. viride on N. oryzae and F. fujikuroi at 20% concentration. The present investigation suggests that the isolates of Trichoderma is a biocontrol agent that can help control seed borne fungi in rice. Dhaka Univ. J. Biol. Sci. 34(1): 109-117, 2025 (January)

Cervical cancer, a persistent global health challenge, particularly affects women in low- and middle-income countries, with India witnessing a significant burden. It was the fourth leading cause of cancer and cancer deaths in women in 2020 globally. High-risk human papillomavirus (HPV) types are major contributors to cervical cancer cases with almost 99

In this paper, the concept of biodiversity has been presented on a historical perspective keeping the visions on Bangladesh via mentioning the primary supporting climatological and physiographic factors of the ecosystems along with their species composition. The total number of microbes, plant, and animal species has been estimated in the range of 10,606-14,913. The varieties of ecosystems present in Bangladesh belong to the broad categories, namely forest, agro-terrestrial, freshwater aquatic, as well as estuarine and marine. Forests cover nearly 17.5% of the total land of Bangladesh having specific categories like tropical wet evergreen and semi-evergreen, tropical moist deciduous, mangrove, freshwater swamp, and homestead forests. Dominant species belonging to those ecosystems were mentioned. The dimension of crop diversity in Bangladesh is very large, but the most common staple food comes from Oryza sativa, Triticum aestivum and Zea mays. The sources of biodiversity for the supply of vegetable and protein have been highlighted. Unique biodiversity in cases of freshwater phytoplankton and aquatic plants has been provided. Results from a case study on butterfly as their qualitative and quantitative biological population dynamics in 34 forest ecosystems of Bangladesh were presented and discussed. The establishment of an open ‘Butterfly Park’ in a National Park reveals that with due course of time the plant-butterfly-wildlife vertebrate species interaction increases with a concomitant increase in the biodiversity. Dominant plant and animal species together with their status as endemic, endangered, threatened, etc. in variously defined ecosystems of Bangladesh were highlighted. Besides, the ways of biodiversity conservation currently in practice in Bangladesh has been mentioned along with the future plans and programs to be implemented. Bangladesh holds a rich history in the starting of biodiversity teaching via developing curricular activities in different teaching institutions throughout the country. The origin and background of this activity was also highlighted. This review will help researchers to address biodiversity related questions on a scientific perspective. J. Biodivers. Conserv. Bioresour. Manag. 2023, 9(1): 79-100

Background: Studies have shown that presence of depression and anxiety disorder in diabetics can worsen the disease outcome. There is lack of data on burden of depression and anxiety disorder among type 2 diabetics and their socio-demographic and clinical predictors from rural primary care settings of India. Aim: Current study aimed to assess the prevalence of anxiety and depression and to identify their associated factors in type 2 diabetics from the rural primary care settings of North India. Method: An observational cross sectional study was conducted among patients of type II diabetes attending NCD clinic at two Primary Health Centres in district Fatehgarh Sahib, Punjab. The instruments used included a semi-structured questionnaire to collect the socio-demographic profile and the details of the diabetes and its treatment and two validated questionnaires, PHQ-9 and GAD-7, to assess and screen for depression and anxiety disorder respectively. Results: Mean age of the study participants was 46.5±12.7 years with male to female ratio of 1:1.6. Overall, 51.1% (95%CI 36.6%-60.8% and 42.6% (95%CI 28.6%- 50.6%) of the participants had anxiety and depression respectively. Factors found to be significantly associated with presence of anxiety were physical inactivity, higher BMI (>28 Kg/m2), being alcoholic and smoker, having any co-morbid illnesses like hypertension and ischemic heart disease. For presence of depression, being female, physical inactivity, of older age (>60 years), having co-morbid illnesses and having any complication like chronic kidney disease were significantly associated. Metabolic components found to be significantly associated with both anxiety and depressions were systolic blood pressure, fasting blood glucose and Hb1AC levels. Discussion: The eight studies in India from both urban and rural populations were recently summarized in a systematic review. Of the six urban clinic-based studies, between ¼ and ⅓ of the participants with diabetes were depressed; however, these studies demonstrated great variability (highest was 84%, and lowest was 16.9%).The prevalence of depression in T2DM patients in our study (42.6%) was nearly similar to other studies (35-50%). There was no sex predilection for depression in our study. The diagnosis of T2DM and its poor understanding in rural areas may be a cause of stress causing anxiety and depression in these people. We found no statistically significant association between depression and duration of diabetes, glycemic control and microvascular complications, These findings implicate that the depression should be assessed in all patients with diabetes, irrespective of gender, duration of diabetes, glycemic control or presence/absence of microvascular complications. One of the limitations of the study was its cross-sectional design, so inference about causality between depression and diabetes or anxiety and diabetes cannot be made. To summarize, the present study found a significantly high prevalence of depression and anxiety disorder among patients with type 2 diabetes attending primary care in rural settings. Universal screening for depression and anxiety disorder should be done in all patients with type 2 diabetes. Future studies from India, should evaluate the effect of treatment of depression on glycaemic control, and also the effect of glycaemic control on depression.

The abundance and diversity of insect fauna were studied from two deciduous sal forests of Bhawal and Madhupur located at central part of Bangladesh. A total of 544 individuals of insects of 61 species belonging to 54 genera, 33 families and 11 orders have been identified with Hymenoptera (31%) as the dominant order in species richness followed by Coleoptera (13%), Orthoptera (11%), Diptera (10%), Hemiptera (8%), Lepidoptera (8%), Odonata (8%), Homoptera (3%), Isoptera (3%), Neuroptera (3%) and Dictyoptera (2%). Bhawal scores higher Shannon-Weaver diversity index (Hʹ=3.725) compared to Madhupur (Hʹ=3.340). The Bhawal Sal Forest with the collected 341 (63%) insects and identified 53 (59%) species belonging to 10 orders was found more diverse in species richness than the Madhupur Sal Forest with 37(41%) species belonging to 11 orders identified from the collected 203 (37%) insect samples. Insects of the order Neuroptera were not recorded from Bhawal. Off the 61 species, 29(48%) species were common in both the forests, 24(39%) species were exclusive to Bhawal and eight (13%) species were exclusive to the Madhupur Sal Forest. Apis cerana of Hymenoptera was identified as the dominant species having 9% of the identified samples followed by dipteran species Musca domestica with 6% of the samples. Among the insect species 30 (49%) species were found playing beneficial role as biological control agents, predators, pollinators, honey producers and also organic debris recycler. On the other hand, 31(51%) species were found to be harmful causing damage to forest vegetation as well as human and wildlife at variable degrees.J. Biodivers. Conserv. Bioresour. Manag. 2021, 7(1): 11-24

Background: The acute physiology and chronic health evaluation (APACHE) II severity score has shown a good calibration and discriminatory value across a range of disease processes and remains the most widely used source of prognostic information on the risk for death in patients admitted to intensive care units (ICUs). Objectives:To study APACHE II scores in patients of acute kidney injury (AKI) admitted in the ICU and to find its association with outcome. Materials and methods: One hundred patients with AKI aged 18 years or above were admitted in the ICU, department of general medicine, of a tertiary care institute in Haryana, north India, from October 2019 to September 2020, were studied. Patients who had known causes of chronic kidney disease (CKD), on maintenance hemodialysis, and those who underwent renal replacement therapy (RRT) or nephrectomy were excluded. All required investigations were performed, and data were collected.The patients were followed till discharge or in-hospital mortality. Results:The mean age of the patients was 55.92 +/- 18.18 years. Male-female ratio was 1.5:1. Thirty-five percent of the admitted patients had an in-hospital mortality. Sepsis (47%) was the most common cause of AKI, and 83% of the patients had underlying comorbid conditions. The mean APACHE II score of the expired patients on admission, i.e., 24.80 +/- 13.65, was found to be significantly higher compared to the mean APACHE II score (17.25 +/- 10.12) of the discharged patients (p-value <0.001). APACHE II score was found to have 57.14% sensitivity, 86.15% specificity, 69% PPV, 78.9% NPV, and 76% diagnostic accuracy to predict mortality among the AKI patients. Conclusion: APACHE II scoring system has a good discrimination and calibration when applied to ICU-admitted AKI patients and is a good predictor of prognosis in them.

In the present study few indigenous techniques of the biodiversity assessment of butterflies were practiced in some forest ecosystems of Bangladesh. Butterfly-plant interaction in a forest ecosystem is a dynamic key factor that determines the status of a forest. A research team of the Environmental Biology and Biodiversity Laboratory (EBBL) of the department of Zoology, Dhaka University worked successfully on a population census of butterflies in some forests by using their newly innovated method the “Biotic-epicntre technical model”. This method deals with two important points for practicing it in the field condition. These are ethological aspects of the butterflies and application of epicentre-spot-design. In total 202 butterfly species (belonging to seven different families) were studied in the forests experimental stations of Bangladesh. The families are Hesperiidae, Papilionidae, Nymphalidae, Pieridae, Danaidae, Lycaenidae and Satyridae. The „vulnerability status‟ comprises„Available (Av)‟, „Rare (Rr)‟, „Near Threatened (Nt)‟, „Threatened (Tr)‟, „Critically Threatened (Ct)‟ and „Endangered (En)‟. The study revealed that the highest number of host-plant families (25 families) was used by lycaenids (45 species). The family Satyridae had the lowest number hostplant families (only 2). The second highest number of host-plant families (24 families) was associated with the family Nymphalidae (34 butterfly species). 38 butterfly species of Hesperiidae were associated with only nine families of the host-plants. The family Papilionidae (19 species) was related to only five host plant families. The butterflies (23 species) of the family Pieridae were found to depend on ten host-plant families. The members of the family Danaidae (12 species) were found on four host-plant families. More than 35 forest-areas of Bangladesh were included in the present investigation. Out of the total studied species (202), six species were found and declared „Endangered‟. Among the examined butterflies, 12, 13, 9, 64 and 98 species hold the status of Critically Threatened, Threatened, Near Threatened, Rare and Available respectively. The population census of the butterflies was carried out in three major forest areas of Bangladesh. The biodiversity assessment methods practiced in the various experimental fields have been illustrated with their respective different figures. J. Biodivers. Conserv. Bioresour. Manag. 2022, 8(1): 1-14

Root canal treatment (RCT) is preferred treatment for mature teeth with irreversible pulpitis. But sometimes it is very difficult to perform due to complex pulpal anatomy and the vitality of tooth is completely lost by this procedure. A new hope has been emerged to consider pulpotomy treatment as an effective treatment in mature permanent teeth with irreversible pulpitis as with the new understanding of pulp biology and recent innovation of bioactive material like MTA. The aim of the study was to evaluate the outcome of MTA pulpotomy for mature third molars with symptoms indicative of irreversible pulpitis. This quasi-experimental study was conducted at Department of Conservative Dentistry and Endodontics, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University, Dhaka, Bangladesh from September 2019 to August 2020. Twenty permanent mandibular third molar teeth with fully developed roots and diagnosed as irreversible pulpitis in 20 patients aged 25-50 years were selected for this study. After informed consent, each tooth was anaesthetized, isolated with dental dam and disinfected with 5% NaOCl before caries excavation; caries was removed, and then, a full pulpotomy was performed. Haemostasis was achieved and MTA (Angelus, Brazil) was placed as the pulpotomy agent over the pulp chamber floor covering the canal orifices and rest of the cavity was sealed with glass-ionomer filling over the set MTA. Clinical and radiographic evaluation was completed at 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year postoperatively. Descriptive statistics were used to assess outcomes. The recall rate ranged from 90% at 3 months to 85% at 1 year, with an overall 100% clinical and radiographic success during the 3 month and 6 month, and 95% success at the end of 1 year. MTA pulpotomy sustained a good success rate over the 1 year follow-up in mature third molar teeth clinically diagnosed with irreversible pulpitis.

Five fungicides viz., CM 75, Dithane M 45, Knowin 50 WP, Nativo 75 WG and Rovral 50 WP were evaluated against Colletotrichum lindemuthianum, Drechslera sacchari and Fusarium semitectum following poisoned food technique. Out of five fungicides complete inhibition of radial growth of C. lindemuthianum was observed in Nativo 75 WG at 100 ppm. On the other hand, the complete inhibition of the growth of D. sacchari was observed with Rovral 50 WP at 400 ppm, whereas Nativo 50 WP showed complete growth inhibition at 500 ppm. CM 75 WP, Knowin 50 WP and Nativo 75 WG showed complete growth inhibition of F. semitectum at 100 ppm. Five different plant leaf extracts viz., Azadirachta indica A. Juss., Heliotropium indicum L., Lippia alba L., Michelia champaca L. and Thuja occidentalis L. were tested against the test pathogens. Of the five plant leaf extracts, Lippia alba showed the highest growth inhibition in C. lindemuthianum, D. sacchari and F. semitectum at 20% concentration. Asiat. Soc. Bangladesh, Sci. 46(1): 81-89, June 2020

To evaluate the in vitro antifungal activity of five fungicides viz., Capvit 50 WP, Contaf 5 EC, Greengel 72 WP, Knowin 72 WP and Score 250 EC as well as five plant extracts viz., Acalypha indica L., Azadirachta indica A. Juss., Heliotropium indicum L., Lippia alba L. and Magnolia champaca L. at different concentrations were selected against Colletotrichum dematium and C. gloeosporioides following poisoned food technique. Among the five fungicides, Capvit 50 and Score 250 showed the complete growth inhibition of C. dematium whereas Contaf 5 EC showed the complete growth inhibition of C. gloeosporioides at all the concentrations. Contaf 5 was found as the most effective inhibitor against C. dematium. On the other hand, Knowin 72 and Score 250 were found as the most effective fungicides against C. gloeosporioides. A. indica and L. alba showed highest radial growth inhibition of C. dematium and C. gloeosporioides at 20% concentration. Moreover, A. indica and M. champaca also showed desired growth inhibition of the test pathogens. This study paves the way for the management of C. dematium and C. gloeosporioides causing anthracnose disease of chilli. Bangladesh J. Bot. 50(2): 437-440, 2021 (June)

1 Full title: Age analysis and growth patterns of Tenualosa ilisha using otolith examination and 2 length-weight relationships from different regions of Bangladesh 3 Short title: Age and growth patterns of Tenualosa ilisha in Bangladesh 4 Md. Borhan Uddin Ahmed1, A. K. Shakur Ahammad1*, Md. Shahjahan2, Biraj Kumar Datta1, 5 Md. Fazla Rabbi1, Mohammad Ashraful Alam3, Md. Abul Bashar3, and Yahia Mahmud3

BackgroundDiabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is one of the most dreaded complications of Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Preventive podiatry is most efficient way of minimising DFU. The main aim of the study was to assess the knowledge and foot care practices among patients living with T2DM concerning the DFU.Materials and MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional study in a rural-area of Haryana, India between January to March 2019 amongst 416 people living with T2DM after using multistage random sampling. A pre-tested, structured survey instrument prepared from the recommendation of the American College of Foot and Ankle Surgeons and the Diabetes UK was used after Hindi translation as per standard protocol. The knowledge and practices were classified as good, satisfactory and poor if the total score was between 8-11, 6-7 and <6.Results14.2% had a previous history of DFU. The prevalence of good, satisfactory and poor knowledge was 63.5%, 12.5% and 24.0%. Further, 46.7%, 32.7% and 20.6% respondents depicted good, satisfactory and poor practices regarding foot care. On multivariate binary logistic regression analysis, younger age group, higher education, Per capita family income in INR, Blood glucose levels, HbA1c Levels, physical activity and previous history of DFU emerged as significant predictors of good foot-care knowledge and practices.ConclusionThere is an evident gap between foot-care knowledge and practices that should be addressed through comprehensive behaviour change strategies. Comprehensive risk-assessments for diabetes associated complications needs to be piloted at community level to assess the feasibility.

A total of twenty nine species of fungi namely Aspergillus aculeatus Lizuka, A. flavus Link, A. fumigatus Fresenius, A. niger Van Tiegh, A. nidulans Eidam, A. subramanianii Visagie, Frisvad & Samson, A. tamariiKita G., A. toxicarius Murak, A. wentii Wehmer, Curvularial unata (Wakker) Boedijn, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides (Penz.) Sacc., C. gossypii Southw., Chaetomium globosum Kunze., Fusarium moniliforme J. Shelden, F. nivale (Fr.) Sorauer, F. oxysporum Schlechtendal, F. fujikuroi Nirenberg, F. solani(Mart.) Sacc., Lasiodiplodiatheobromae (Pat.) Griffon & Maubl., Meyerozyma guilliermondii (Wick.) Kurtzman & M. Suzuki., Mucor sp. P. Micheli ex L., Penicillium aculeatum Raper& Fennell, Penicillium citrinum Thom, Rhizoctonia solani Khun., Rhizopus stolonifer (Ehrenb.) Vuill., Rhizopus oryzae Went & Prins. Geerl., Rhizo mucor sp. Luce t & Costantin, Syncephalastrum racemosum Cohn and Trichoderma viride Pers. were found to be associated with the seeds of 14 varieties viz. CB-1 to CB-14 of cotton. Seed quality analysis showed that percentage of pure seeds, germination, moisture, seedling mortality and associated fungi with different varieties of cotton seeds varies from 97.08-99.92%, 80-93%, 10-11.3%, 16.05-50.30% and 24-78.0% respectively. Present study deals with estimation of interrelationship between some quality factors through correlation and regression analysis are important for the assessment of seed quality. There were negative correlations between seedling mortality and purity percentage and between germination rate and fungus frequency. On the other hand, positive correlations were found between germination rate and purity percentage, between seedling mortality and fungus frequency, between purity percentage and fungus frequency, between germination rate and seed moisture and between fungus frequency and seed moisture. CB 8 was superior from the other cotton variety as it showed higher physical purity of seed (98.41%), higher seed germination (92%), lower fungal incidence (24%) and lower mortality of seedling (23.91%). Bioresearch Commu. 8(1): 1061-1067, 2022 (January)

A total of 24 species of fungi, namely Aspergillus flavus Link, A. fumigatus Fresenius, A. niger (Type 1 and Type 2) Van Tiegh, A. ochraceus K. Wilhelm, A. nidulans Eidam, Aspergillus sp.1, Aspergillus sp.2, Aspergillus sp.3, Curvularia lunata (Wakker) Boedijn, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Penz & Sacc, C. gossypii Southw., Chaetomium globosum Kunze., Fusarium nivale (Fr.) Sorauer, F. moniliforme J. Shelden, F. oxysporum Schlechtendal, F. fujikuroi Nirenberg, Mucor sp. P. Micheli ex L., Penicillium sp.1 and sp.2 Link, Rhizoctonia solani Khun., Rhizopus stolonifer (Ehrenb.) Vuill., Rhizomucor sp. Lucet & Costantin, Syncephalastrum racemosum Cohn and Trichoderma viride Pers. were found to be associated with the seeds of 14 varieties (CB 1- CB 14) of cotton. Out of these 24 fungal species, nine were found to be pathogenic to cotton. They were Aspergillus flavus, A. niger (Type 1), Aspergillus sp. 1, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, Curvularia lunata, Fusarium nivale, F. moniliforme, Mucor sp. and Rhizoctonia solani. These pathogenic fungi had remarkable effect on seed germination, vigor index, root-shoot length and mortality of cotton seedlings. The germination percentage of control seeds was 88 but because of the presence of pathogenic fungi the rate showed considerable reduction in all the varieties and it varied from 20 to 82%. Among the nine fungal isolates Rhizoctonia solani showed maximum reduction in seed germination. Aspergillus flavus, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides and Fusarium moniliforme also caused near about 50% reduction in seed germination. Mortality percentage of control seedling were also less (6) whereas, in inoculated seeds it was higher and varied from 7 - 23%. Root- shoot ratio of control seedlings was high but less in inoculated seedlings. The vigor index of control plant was high (1548.8) but less in inoculated plants. The lowest vigor index was noticed for Rhizoctonia solani (202.0) and highest for Aspergillus sp. 1(1213.6). Results indicated that Curvularia lunata and Rhizoctonia solani showed a greater impact in reduction of cotton seed germination and vigor index. Dhaka Univ. J. Biol. Sci. 29(1): 107-115, 2020 (January)

Twenty-five species of fungi were isolated from the seeds of twenty rice varieties (BRRI dhan 56 to BRRI dhan 75) collected from Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI). The fungi were isolated from the samples following “Tissue Planting” method and “Blotter” methods. The isolated fungi were Alternaria alternata Keissler, A. tenuissima Samuel Paul Wiltshire, Aspergillus flavus Link, A. fumigatus Fresen., A. niger Tiegh., A. ochraceus K.Wilh., A. terreus Thom., Bipolaris multiformis (Jooste) Alcorn, B. oryzae (Breda de Haan) Shoemaker, B. sorokiniana (Sacc.) Shoemaker, Chaetomium globosum Kunze ex Fr., Curvularia lunata (Wakker) Boedijn, Fusarium equiseti, (Corda) Saccardo., F. fujikuroi Nirenberg, F. oxysporum Schltdl., F. proliferatum (Matsush.) Nirenberg, Microdochium fisheri Hern.Restr. & Crous., Nigrospora oryzae (Berk. & Br.), Penicillium Link., Pestalotiopsis oxyanthi Thum., Phanerochaete chrysosporium Burds., Rhizopus stolonifer (Ehrenb.) Vuill, Sarocladium oryzae (Sawada) W. Gams & D. Hawksw, Syncephalastrum racemosum Cohn ex J. Schrot. and Trichoderma viride Pers were isolated from the BRRI rice varieties. Among the isolated fungi, Bipolaris oryzae, Curvularia lunata, Fusarium equiseti, F. fujikurori, Microdochium fisheri and Nigrospora oryzae showed pathogenic potentiality following seed inoculation technique. These pathogenic fungi had remarkable effect on seed germination, root shoot length and mortality of rice seedlings. The present report is the first record of Microdochium fisheri as a pathogenic fungus for Bangladesh. Citation: Click Here

Introduction: Diabetic peripheral neuropathy (DPN), a common and troublesome complication of diabetes mellitus (DM), leads to a higher risk of diabetic foot ulcers and lower limb amputation. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of DPN among patients of type 2 DM from rural North India and associated risk factors for the condition. Materials and Methods: A facility-based cross-sectional study was carried out among type 2 diabetic patients attending the Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) clinic of a secondary care hospital in rural North India. A questionnaire that included sociodemographic details, clinical and laboratory parameters, and the Michigan Neuropathy Screening Instrument (MNSI) for detecting peripheral neuropathy was administered to 100 consecutive eligible patients. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0 was used for entering and analyzing data. Bivariate analysis was performed to determine the factors significantly associated with the presence of DPN. Results: The prevalence of DPN was found to be 42.0%. Male gender, advancing age (≥60 years), longer duration of diabetes (>10 years), smoking, physical inactivity, obesity, uncontrolled blood pressure, poor glycemic control and altered lipid profile were found to be significantly associated with the presence of DPN. Conclusions: The prevalence of DPN among type 2 diabetes patients from rural northern India is alarmingly high. There is a need for essential screening of all diabetic patients by their primary care provider for early detection of DPN, particularly in rural India.

Seed samples with highest (CB10), lowest (CB8), moderate fungal frequency (CB3) and randomly selected seeds from all varieties (CB1-14) were used. A total of 14 species of fungi, namely Aspergillus flavus Link, A. fumigatus Fresenius, A. niger Van Tiegh, Curvularia lunata (Wakker) Boedijn, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides Penz & Sacc, Fusarium nivale (Fr.) Sorauer, F. oxysporum Schlechtendal, F. fujikuroi Nirenberg, Penicillium aculeatum Raper & Fennell, Penicillium citrinum Thom, Rhizoctonia solani Khun., Rhizopus stolonifer (Ehrenb.) Vuill., Syncephalastrum racemosum Cohn and Trichoderma viride Pers. were found to be associated with seed parts of different varieties of cotton. The maximum ten species of fungi were isolated from seed coat. The most prevalent fungus was Rhizopus stolonifer which was found in all the parts of all the varieties of cotton seeds examined. Out of the 14 isolated fungi, Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger, C. lunata, C. gloeosporioides, F. nivale, F. oxysporum, F. fujikuroi, Penicillium aculeatum, R. solani, R. stolonifer, S. racemosum and T. viride were found to be external and Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger, C. lunata, F. nivale, Penicillium citrinum and R. stolonifer were internal seed borne fungi. Aspergillus flavus, A. fumigatus, A. niger, C. lunata, F. nivale and R. stolonifer were isolated as both external and internal seed borne fungi. Dhaka Univ. J. Biol. Sci. 29(2): 237-244, 2020 (July)

A field investigation was carried out from January 2015 to December 2017 to study the status of some lycaenid butterflies in some selected forest areas of Bangladesh. A total of 6,724 lycaenids was recorded from Butterfly Research Park at Bhawal National Park, Gazipur; Madhupur National Park, Tangail; Satchori National Park and Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary of Habigonj. The dominant species was Arhopala pseudocentaurus with 21.85% relative frequency and the least abundant species was Rathinda amor with 0.75% relative frequency. Butterfly Research Park showed the maximum number of butterfly individuals with a covariance of 40% followed by Madhupur National Park (37%), Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary (13%), and Satchori National Park (10%). A significant difference (F = 3.52, p-value = 0.02) has been assessed using „One-way ANOVA‟ test. The difference in the availability of butterflies in different habitats indicated the differences in plant diversity among the forests. Lycaenid butterflies displayed highest abundance (13.19%) in December and lowest (5.38%) in October. There was no significant difference (F = 0.72, p-value = 0.71) among different months throughout the study period in overall species abundance though highest number was recorded in December. The abiotic factors (viz. temperature and relative humidity etc.) influence the presence of butterflies. Lycaenid butterflies demonstrated the highest abundance (887) in 26.9°C along with 64% relative humidity whereas the least abundance (362) has been recorded at 31.7°C with 77% relative humidity. The significant negative correlation was found in between lycaenid abundance and temperature (r = ─ 0.45, pvalue = 0.14), and between lycaenid abundance and relative humidity (r = ─ 0.19, p-value = 0.54). The butterfly population increased with decreasing average temperature and relative humidity during the study period. This investigation reveals the differences in the availability of lycaenid butterflies in relation to the differences in plant population and also the effect of abiotic factors in the forest areas. J. Biodivers. Conserv. Bioresour. Manag. 2019, 5(2): 19-32