Seedlings of the rice variety CT6919 gave rise to bacterial outgrowths upon transfer to NA plates if the seeds were surface sterilized without removing their husks (Fig. 1A). However, if the seeds were dehusked before surface sterilization, the bacterial contaminants were eliminated (Fig. 1B). This observation suggested that CT6919 grains harbor seed-borne bacteria. To explore if this was only a feature of the CT6919 seeds or a more general feature, we plated the aqueous macerates of surface-sterilized husked seeds of other rice varieties cultivated in Argentina, namely, CAMBA, IRGA 417, and El Paso 144. The number of mesophiles recovered after 24 h incubation at 28°C was comparable between the different seed varieties (2.6 to 7.6×106 CFU/g of husked seeds). Every rice variety contained a qualitatively different load of bacterial mesophiles in terms of the types of developed colonies (Fig. 1C). There were no residual culturable bacteria on the external seed surface when the sterilized husked seeds were plated without crushing. On the other hand, we did not recover any bacterial colonies under the growth conditions used in this study, after plating macerates from the seeds that were dehusked before surface sterilization. Thus, we conclude that seeds of the rice varieties CT6919, CAMBA, IRGA 417, and El Paso 144 contain bacterial mesophiles in the compartment delimited by the seed husk and the endosperm.