In this work, the effectiveness of native and chemically modified rice bran to remove heavy metal Pb(II) ions from aqueous solution was examined. Chemical modifications with some simple and low-cost chemicals resulted in enhancement of the adsorption capacities and had faster kinetics than native rice bran. Experiments were conducted in shake flasks to monitor the upshot of parameters over a range of pH, initial Pb(II) concentrations and contact times using a batch model study. The sorption capacities q (mg g -1 ) increased in the following order: NaOH (147.78), Ca(OH) 2 (139.08), Al(OH) 3 (127.24), esterification (124.28), NaHCO 3 (118.08), methylation (118.88), Na 2 CO 3 (117.12) and native (80.24). The utmost uptake capacity q (mg g -1 ) was shown by NaOH-pretreated rice bran. The results showed that, using NaOH-modified rice bran, the chief removal of Pb(II) was 74.54 % at pH 5, primary Pb(II) concentration 100 mg L -1 and contact time 240 min. Equilibrium isotherms for the Pb(II) adsorption were analyzed by Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models. The Langmuir isotherm model, showing Pb(II) sorption as accessible through the high value of the correlation coefficient (R 2 = 0.993), showed a q max value of 416.61 mg g -1 . The kinetic model illustrated adsorption rates well, depicted by a second order, which gives an indication concerning the rate-limiting step. Thermodynamic evaluation of the metal ion DG o was carried out and led to the observation that the adsorption reaction is spontaneous and endothermic in nature. NaOH chemically modified rice bran was a superb biosorbent for exclusion of Pb(II) and proved to be excellent for industrial applications.

Maize (Zea mays L) is a parsimoniously important cereal crop after wheat and rice because it is rich in carbohydrates, protein, fiber, sugar, and ash, and oil that’s used as human food and the crop is used as animal feed too. The stalk rot of maize caused by Fusarium moniliforme (Fm) is one of the most important emerging threats to the successful production of maize in Pakistan. In this study the physicochemical characterization of Fm was done. Diseased samples of maize were collected from Faisalabad regions. Pathogen was isolated from the infected maize plant. In physiological test different pH levels (8.5, 7.5, 6.5 and 4) were evaluated and the highest fungal growth was observed at pH 7.5 (14.50mm), and the effect of different temperature (23, 28, 33, and 38) were also assessed. At 28°C temperature (38.42mm) the highest growth was observed. Different carbon sources (glucose, sucrose, dextrose, and maltose) versus were assessed. Glucose as a carbon source showed the highest fungal growth (11.62mm). Nitrogen sources such as urea, Ammonium nitrate (NH4NO3), and potassium nitrate (KNO3) were assessed, and urea showed the highest fungal growth (34.86mm). Fm was characterized by using biochemical tests such as cellulose hydrolysis, urease activity, β-glucosidase activity, phosphate, and polyphenol oxidases activity. All these biochemical showed the positive results except urease activity test. All the experiments were conducted under lab conditions by using Randomized Complete Block Design (CRBD). To observe the difference in response of treatments, least significant difference (LSD) was used at 0.05 % probability level.