To determine the numbers of Fusarium and Bacillus
strains in the plant root rhizosphere, three plants
in each block (treatment) were sampled randomly from
the two fields after harvest. The rhizosphere soil samples
were taken according to Rumberger et al. (2004).
To determine the population of target microbe, 5 g of
the collected rhizosphere soil was added to 45 mL of
distilled water and shaken for 30 min. Ten-fold serial
dilutions were made and appropriate suspensions were
spread onto the agar plates containing the following
selective media: 1) K2 medium for Fusarium (Komada,
1975) and 2) LB agar-medium for Bacillus (Turner
and Backman, 1991). For the determination of Bacillus
species, the dilutions were pre-treated at 80 ◦C for 15
min before plating. Plates for counting Bacillus were
incubated at 30 ◦C for 36 h, while plates for counting
Fusarium were incubated at 28 ◦C for 72 h.