This
suggests that pistil invasion might be involved in natural seed
infestation by A. citrulli. While the PE layer might block bacterial
penetration into the embryo in pericarp-inoculated fruits, the same
is not true for seed from pistil-inoculated fruits. Using the two
seed inoculation methods reported in this study, we can begin to
investigate how bacterial localization influences A. citrulli survival
in seeds.