Table 3.

Effect of water stress on relative water content (RWC), pigments and protein contents of leaves of inoculated and non-inoculated sunflower seedlings

Treatments	Inoculation	Leaf
		RWC (%)	Pigments (μg/mgFW)				Protein (mg/g FW)
			Chl a	Chl b	Total chl	Carotenoids
Control	−	82.64 ± 2.25c	2.55 ± 0.23d	0.47 ± 0.06c	3.03 ± 0.22d	0.83 ± 0.02def	47.53 ± 3.37f
	A+	88.32 ± 1.85ab	3.30 ± 0.17bc	0.56 ± 0.03b	3.86 ± 0.15b	0.91 ± 0.01def	86.54 ± 3.41b
	B+	89.13 ± 1.39a	3.61 ± 0.28ab	0.71 ± 0.03a	4.32 ± 0.27a	0.97 ± 0.03cde	64.40 ± 1.92d
	AB+	89.43 ± 0.61a	3.77 ± 0.29a	0.65 ± 0.04a	4.42 ± 0.26a	1.24 ± 0.12bc	104.50 ± 3.40a
Stress	−	49.26 ± 1.24f	1.57 ± 0.25e	0.35 ± 0.02de	1.92 ± 0.23f	0.84 ± 0.03def	21.51 ± 1.71i
	A+	52.42 ± 2.39f	2.29 ± 0.19d	0.38 ± 0.04d	2.67 ± 0.17e	0.77 ± 0.03ef	41.98 ± 2.42 g
	B+	62.33 ± 2.45e	2.50 ± 0.13d	0.51 ± 0.03bc	3.01 ± 0.10d	1.01 ± 0.11cde	57.21 ± 2.06e
	AB+	70.80 ± 2.07d	3.18 ± 0.11c	0.34 ± 0.03def	3.52 ± 0.11c	1.60 ± 0.43a	74.50 ± 3.22c
Recovery	−	74.28 ± 2.46d	1.14 ± 0.11f	0.14 ± 0.04 g	1.28 ± 0.09 g	0.44 ± 0.03 g	33.62 ± 2.59 h
	A+	82.74 ± 3.83c	1.88 ± 0.15e	0.31 ± 0.02ef	1.93 ± 0.22f	1.10 ± 0.09 cd	44.13 ± 2.00 fg
	B+	83.65 ± 2.91c	1.58 ± 0.14e	0.35 ± 0.03de	1.92 ± 0.12f	0.63 ± 0.04 fg	45.93 ± 3.59 fg
	AB+	84.83 ± 2.68c	1.64 ± 0.24e	0.28 ± 0.03f	2.19 ± 0.13f	1.39 ± 0.31ab	55.55 ± 3.97e

Mean ± (SD) values followed by the same letters within each column are not significantly different at 0.05 (ANOVA and Duncan’s multiple range test) n = 3

−non-inoculated, A+, inoculated with A. chroococcum, B+ inoculated with B. polymyxa, AB+ inoculated with both bacteria