Fig. 8.

Effect of SCIII and single bacterium inoculation on plant growth, root rot incidence, and mortality. a Root rot disease incidence and b mortality of plants inoculated with a single bacterium or SCIII after 10 days of inoculation (n = 45). Each plant was inoculated with 2 mL of bacterial suspension (~ 10⁸ CFU/mL). After 5 days, each plant was inoculated with a 2-mL spore suspension of F. oxysporum (~ 10⁵ spores/L). c–f Effects of different single-bacterium groups and SCIII on root length, height, fresh weight, and dry weight of Astragalus. SM, Stenotrophomonas sp.; RR, Rhizobium sp.; OP, Ochrobactrum sp.; AK, Advenella sp.; SCIII, four-species synthetic community. Letters indicate significant differences (n = 20, P < 0.05). Each plant was inoculated with 2-mL bacterial suspensions and grown for 15 days. g Phenotypes of Astragalus inoculated with single bacteria or SCIII after 15 days of growth in a greenhouse