Table 3.

Shoot, root, and nodule dry weight (DW), nodule number per plant, percentage of nodules with meristem bifurcation and nodules without senescence zone of GA₃-treated and untreated wild-type SGE at 2, 4, and 6 weeks after inoculation (WAI).

Treatment	WAI	Shoot DW, mg	Root DW, mg	Total nodule DW, mg	Average nodule DW, mg	Number of nodules per plant	Percentage of nodules with meristem bifurcation	Percentage of nodules without senescence zone
SGE	2	61.6 ± 5.97	30.64 ± 2.47	2.11 ± 0.26	0.1 ± 0.008	21 ± 1.81	ND	ND
	4	148.65 ± 11.39b	48.82 ± 4.55b	15.03 ± 1.19b	0.27 ± 0.012b	54.75 ± 3.52b	9.13 ± 1.91	ND
	6	659.62 ± 45.17bc	118.52 ± 14.18bc	21.02 ± 2.48b	0.28 ± 0.016b	78.45 ± 6.68bc	3.63 ± 0.74	13.92 ± 2.34
SGE + 10-6M GA3	2	77.24 ± 9.79	36.17 ± 3.28	3.24 ± 0.52	0.21 ± 0.018a	13.45 ± 1.63a	ND	ND
	4	244 ± 15.58ab	52.38 ± 4.35b	14.32 ± 1.34b	0.67 ± 0.085ab	22.64 ± 1.45ab	32.52 ± 4.86a	ND
	6	747.44 ± 96.54bc	109.03 ± 14.35bc	17.7 ± 3.03b	0.64 ± 0.15ab	36.78 ± 5.94ab	23.01 ± 4.57a	40.26 ± 3.96a

Plants were inoculated with R. leguminosarum 3841. Results are means ± SE (n = 9–16). Letters indicate statistically significant differences (P-value ≤ 0.01): a, from untreated plants at one time point; b, within variant (GA₃-treated or untreated) compared with 2 WAI; c, within variant (GA₃-treated or untreated) compared with 4 WAI. ND, no data.