TABLE 5.
Survival of S. meliloti RMB7201, FS1, and FS7 during drying in a silt-clay matrixa
| Strains mixed | Avg no. of CFU (% survival)
|
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1b | Day 3 | Day 5 | Day 11 | |
| Wild type plus FS1 | ||||
| Wild type | 1.1 × 107 (83) | 4.9 × 104 (0.40) | 3.5 × 104 (0.30) | 4.9 × 103 (0.04) |
| FS1 | 7.3 × 106 (59) | 1.4 × 103 (0.13) | 6.8 × 103 (0.063) | 5.3 × 102 (0.005) |
| Wild type plus FS7 | ||||
| Wild type | 2.3 × 106 (16) | 5.3 × 104 (0.37) | 2.0 × 104 (0.14) | 1.6 × 103 (0.011) |
| FS7 | 2.0 × 106 (15) | 1.5 × 103 (0.12) | 2.0 × 103 (0.02) | 1.1 × 102 (0.001) |
a
Values are averages from duplicate samples in a single experiment. CFU per vial = CFU/1.6 g of dry silt-clay matrix.
b
The moisture content of the silt-clay matrix was 8.75% by weight on day 1 and below 0.8% on days 3, 5, and 11.