Table 1.
Total and culturable population levels of P. fluorescens EPS62e in blossoms at 1 and 10 days after inoculation in orchard plots of apple and pear cultivars, depending on the treatment
| Apple or pear cultivar | Timea (days) | Treatmentb | Total cells (T)c,d (log10 cells/blossom) | Culturable cells (C)d,e (log10 CFU/blossom) | Significance of differences between T and C (P < F)f |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Modi apple | 1 | STA | 8.2 a | 6.8 ab | 0.0082 |
| NE | 7.4 b | 6.7 b | 0.0068 | ||
| OA | 8.3 a | 7.0 ab | 0.0056 | ||
| NEOA | 7.7 ab | 7.2 a | 0.0118 | ||
| 10 | STA | 6.2 b | 6.4 b | 0.6862 | |
| NE | 7.1 a | 7.3 a | 0.5750 | ||
| OA | 7.3 a | 7.3 a | 0.8464 | ||
| NEOA | 7.5 a | 7.5 a | 0.8954 | ||
| Golden apple | 1 | STA | 7.6 ab | 6.4 c | 0.0079 |
| NE | 7.2 b | 6.6 bc | 0.1077 | ||
| OA | 7.6 ab | 6.8 ab | 0.0085 | ||
| NEOA | 7.8 a | 7.1 a | 0.0003 | ||
| 10 | STA | 6.1 b | 6.1 c | 0.3592 | |
| NE | 6.7 ab | 6.9 b | 0.4350 | ||
| OA | 6.9 a | 7.0 ab | 0.8989 | ||
| NEOA | 7.3 a | 7.3 a | 0.9495 | ||
| Doyenne du Comice pear | 1 | STA | 8.2 a | 7.0 a | 0.0006 |
| NE | 7.6 ab | 6.9 a | 0.0453 | ||
| OA | 7.8 ab | 7.1 a | 0.1017 | ||
| NEOA | 7.4 b | 7.4 a | 0.6902 | ||
| 10 | STA | 6.8 a | 5.9 b | 0.0298 | |
| NE | 6.7 a | 6.9 a | 0.4429 | ||
| OA | 7.1 a | 7.3 a | 0.6368 | ||
| NEOA | 7.2 a | 7.3 a | 0.6503 |
Number of days after treatment.
Blossoms were treated in the field with EPS62e cells (STA) cultured in LB, nutrient-enriched cells (NE) cultured in LB and enriched with glycine and Tween 80, osmoadapted cells (OA) cultured in minimal medium with NaCl plus glycine betaine, or osmoadapted and nutrient-enriched cells (NEOA) cultured in minimal medium with NaCl plus glycine betaine and enriched with glycine and Tween 80.
Total population level determined by Q-PCR.
Values are the means of three replicates. Different letters within each sampling day and cultivar indicate significant differences between treatments according to a Waller-Duncan test (P < 0.05).
Culturable population level determined by plate counting method.
P < F, probability of the estimator F.