3.1.3. Stems colonization
Surface disinfected stems from inoculated tomato seedlings
showed significant bacterial populations after 2 days P.I., varying
around 3.5–5.0 log CFU g−1 (fw) throughout the experiment (Fig. 1).
Stem endophytic bacterial population, although significant, was
lower than the one found in roots (Fig. 1).
FN, total fruit number; FW, total fruit weight (kg).
a Results are expressed as means of the total measurements per treatment replicate
(20 plants) during the evaluation period. The data were subjected to statistical
analysis performed using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Duncan’s
test and the means compared. P-values
≤0.05 were considered as significant.
* Indicate values that were significantly different from the non-inoculated control
at 5% level.
3.2. Greenhouse experiments
Fruit yields both number and weight in both experiments were
markedly affected by the inoculation with G. diazotrophicus PAL 5
(Table 1).