A spot inoculation method was used to inoculate tomatoes since
it allows the application of a known amount of cells onto the surfaces,
regardless of weight/size. Hundred microliter (100 ml, ca. 10
drops) of the mixed culture suspensionwas carefully spotted on the
stem scar (ST) and surface (SR) sites of tomatoes using an appropriate
accurate pipette. To assure optimum exposure to UV-C radiation,
intended inoculation sites of tomato were marked with
indelible ink. The inoculated tomatoes were placed on sterile Petri
dishes and air-dried for 2 h at room temperature (22 C) in a
biosafety cabinet (Nuare, Plymouth, MN, USA) to allow the