Aspergillus flavus YRB2 from Thymelaea hirsuta (L.) Endl., a non-aflatoxigenic endophyte with ability to overexpress defense-related genes against Fusarium root rot of maize

Table 5 Growth parameters of maize plants infected with Fusarium root rot in response to colonization with endophytic Aspergillus flavus YRB2 at 45 days post infection*

Treatment	Shoots length (cm)	Root length (cm)	Shoots dry weight (g)	Root dry weight (g)	Number of leaves
C	49.3 ± 1.5^b	16.7 ± 0.6^b	0.94 ± 0.03^ab	0.52 ± 0.02^b	4.0 ± 0.2^a
P	38.1 ± 1.2^c	13.1 ± 0.4^c	0.76 ± 0.05^c	0.39 ± 0.03^c	4.0 ± 0.1^a
E	55.7 ± 1.6^a	18.7 ± 0.5^a	1.02 ± 0.04^a	0.60 ± 0.02^a	5.0 ± 0.2^a
P + E	46.7 ± 1.5^b	15.8 ± 0.7^b	0.90 ± 0.01^b	0.49 ± 0.05^b	4.0 ± 0.1^a

*In each column, values followed by the same letter are not significantly different according to Tukey’s HSD test (p ≤ 0.05), each value represents the mean of five replicates ± SD. Where, C: non-colonized with A. flavus YRB2 and uninfected with F. solani, P: non-colonized with A. flavus YRB2 and infected with F. solani, E: uninfected with F. solani and colonized with A. flavus YRB2, and P + E: infected with F. solani and colonized with A. flavus YRB2

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