conditionsBacteria grown for 48 h on solid King’s B medium were washedtwice with sterile 0.1 M MgSO4× 7H2O to remove the nutrients,and finally the pellets were used to prepare the homogenous cellsuspensions (6 × 108, 106and 104cfu mL−1) in 0.5% (w/v) solutionof carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) (Sigma–Aldrich, USA) in 0.1 MMgSO4× 7H2O. Seeds of winter wheat cv