FIGURE 4.

Inhibition of spore germination of Botrytis cinerea. Percentages of germinated spores observed (out of ca. 30 spores) after 8h upon exposure to bacterial cells are shown in (A), those observed upon exposure to cell-free filtrates are shown in (B). Different letters indicate statistically significant differences according to a Chi-square test with Yate’s correction for continuity (p < 0.05). The length of the germ tube was measured with ImageJ in germinated spores exposed to bacterial cells (n = 5–39) (C) or cell-free filtrates (n = 21–34) (D). Stars indicate significant difference in germ tube length compared with the respective control (ctrl) according to a t-test (^∗p < 0.05; ^∗∗p < 0.01; ^∗∗∗p < 0.001). n.a., not available (no spore germinated in this treatment). Representative pictures of spores co-incubated with bacterial cells (left) or cell-free filtrates (right) are shown in (E). The experiment was repeated twice with similar results.