Table 3.

Recovery of endophytically colonized S. enterica from tomato plants (Solanum lycopersicum cv. Micro-Tom)^a

Inoculation time posttransplant (days)	No. of plants analyzed in each expt	Salmonella-positive plants in:
		Each expt (no. [%])	Total (no./total no.)e
1–3	18b	4 (22)	6/28 A
	10c	2 (20)	6/28 A
7	18d	0 (0)	0/28 B
	10c	0 (0)	0/28 B

^aA five-strain cocktail was inoculated into the soil of tomato plants' root zones. The presence of S. enterica inside the plant tissues was evaluated by sanitizing the exterior of the sample before direct plating or enrichment.

^bAmong 18 plants, only stems were sampled from 6 plants at 7 days postinoculation (dpi); top and middle leaves and tomato fruits were sampled from the remaining 12 plants at the early fruit stage (plants had one or more green fruits). Leaves or fruits were composited for each plant after surface disinfection.

^cOnly stems were sampled from plants at 7 dpi.

^dOnly stems were sampled from plants at 23 dpi.

^eDifferent uppercase letters represent the number of positives out of the total that are significantly different (P < 0.05).