FIGURE 4.

Assay for phyllomicrobiome-conferred immunocompetence. Seedling growth inhibition as a phenotypic marker of microbiome-conferred immunocompetence, observed with nine blast-suppressive bacterial isolates, represented six genera such as Enterobacter, Microbacterium, Pantoea, Pseudomonas, Rhizobium, and Sphingomonas. The rice phyllosphere bacteria showed various shades of yellow pigmentation; the pink color appearance of the bacterial colony is due to the reduction of tetrazolium dye into insoluble formazan; the inhibition of shoot and root growth—an indicator of innate immunity, can be seen in plantlets interacting with high bacterial titer.