Fig. 6. Effect of Msb3 and Msb3ΔacdS on tomato in the presence of a native microbial community and inoculated via foliar spray.

a Hypocotyl length and b, weight of tomato seedlings grown in non-treated soil and exposed to the environment at all times. Measurements were taken 7 DPI with Msb3 or the acdS deficient mutant of Msb3 (ΔacdS). Two modes of inoculation were compared. Seedlings were either dipped into a suspension of bacterial cells (OD₆₀₀ = 0.01) in 10 mM MgCl₂ during transplanting or were sprayed with it after transplanting. Controls were dipped into an MgCl₂ solution without inoculant (n = 20 for each mode of inoculation and each condition, respectively). Significance was determined within each treatment and between all parameters via ANOVA; letters correspond to a Tukey post hoc test. Red dots represent the mean.