Fig. 3. P. indica stimulates lateral root formation in banana plants and restricts Foc TR4 growth in vitro.

a P. indica chlamydospores colonize banana roots and aggregate at the lateral root primordium site. b Banana plantlets treated by P. indica inoculum (1 × 10⁵ chlamydospores/ml) and grown in ½ Hoagland medium exhibit more lateral roots. Arrows indicate lateral roots. c Untreated banana plantlets grown in ½ Hoagland medium as controls. d, e Hypha size of P. indica (d) and Foc TR4 (e) under scanning electron microscope. f P. indica hyphae clasp and collapse the hyphae of Foc TR4. Scale bars, 2 μm.