Table 1.

Effect of different Sebacinales species on barley biomass and systemic resistance to powdery mildew

Species/isolate	Increase in shoot length, %	Increase in shoot fresh weight, %	Reduction in leaf infection by B. graminis, %
P. indica	13.66**	26.45**	70.85**
S. v./MAFF305830	23.25**	48.24**	79.45**
S. v./MAFF305842	16.87**	15.48*	56.36*
Multinucleate Rhizoctonia/DAR29830	7.56**	10.76*	56.27*
S. v./MAFF305828	14.97**	28.72**	10.89
S. v./MAFF305837	16.34**	32.01**	58.19**
S. v./MAFF305835	7.80*	9.82	50.74*
S. v./MAFF305838	7.72**	6.41	44.89*

Species/isolates are shown with their culture collection numbers. Isolates of Sebacina vermifera (S. v.) were obtained from the National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (Tsukuba, Japan); the isolate DAR29830 was kindly provided by Karl-Heinz Rexer (University of Marburg, Marburg, Germany). Values are means of three independent experiments, each consisting of 60 endophyte-inoculated and mock-inoculated plants, respectively. Powdery mildew infection was calculated from the number of fungal colonies developing on third leaf segments 7 dai with B. graminis f.sp. hordei, race A6 (15). Asterisks denote statistically significant differences between the respective values of endophyte-colonized and noncolonized plants (∗, P <0.05, Student's ttest; ∗∗, P <0.01, Student's ttest).