Synergistic Effects of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria and Chitosan on In Vitro Seeds Germination, Greenhouse Growth, and Nutrient Uptake of Maize (Zea mays L.)

Table 2

Effect of A. lipoferum, P. fluorescens, P. putida, and chitosan on the maize germinative parameters.

Treatments	Germination (%)		Shoot length (cm)		Root length (cm)		Vigor index		Shoot weight (mg)		Root weight (mg)		Germinated seed weight (mg)
	m	σ	m	σ	m	σ	m	σ	m	σ	m	σ	m	σ
CTL	100	0.0	5.952	0.452	12.736	1.127	1868.8	110.8	0.233	0.026	0.252	0.009	0.876	0.055
lip	98.7	2.3	8.072	0.801	13.822	0.861	2162.3	62.1	0.307	0.043	0.226	0.029	0.915	0.025
flu	95.0	0.0	6.879	0.589	16.146	0.541	2187.4	35.5	0.235	0.018	0.261	0.024	0.889	0.023
put	100	0.0	8.961	1.33	13.306	0.49	22.267	231	0.375	0.038	0.365	0.061	1.151	0.07
lip-flu	88.7	7.9	10.052	1.553	16.806	1.998	2363	141.1	0.34	0.057	0.315	0.024	1.032	0.032
lip-put	96.2	2.3	8.659	0.848	15.346	2.116	2313.1	206.2	0.333	0.051	0.342	0.013	1.109	0.048
flu-put	95.0	3.7	8.612	0.773	18.001	3.361	2529.5	301.5	0.303	0.024	0.336	0.059	1.048	0.068
lip-flu-put	96.2	4.4	9.694	1.288	16.425	0.938	2509.8	133.2	0.34	0.047	0.312	0.007	1.055	0.064
Q	98.7	2.3	7.356	0.353	17.669	0.642	2470.7	84.6	0.265	0.018	0.313	0.018	0.978	0.035
Q.lip	98.7	2.3	8.09	0.765	12.798	0.383	2062.2	41.7	0.314	0.038	0.256	0.016	1.039	0.052
Q.flu	96.2	4.4	9.219	0.706	14.367	1.541	2267.4	144.8	0.316	0.039	0.315	0.071	0.999	0.123
Q.put	92.5	5.5	9.828	0.868	13.071	3.017	2125.9	315	0.386	0.05	0.261	0.007	1.076	0.06
Q.lip-flu	97.5	2.6	8.025	0.969	18.135	1.206	2549.9	215.5	0.298	0.022	0.348	0.013	0.99	0.051
Q.lip-put	95.0	3.7	8.822	1.932	14.021	1.659	2165.6	265.4	0.32	0.088	0.282	0.041	0.967	0.174
Q.flu-put	97.5	2.6	6.643	0.383	15.442	1.218	2155.5	198	0.237	0.014	0.263	0.018	0.896	0.028
Q.lip-flu-put	97.5	4.6	7.227	0.414	16.122	1.592	2273.5	182.9	0.24	0.009	0.225	0.009	0.809	0.003
Signification

(significant); (very highly significant); m: mean; σ: standard error. In a column, the means with different letters are significantly different than the probability level of 5% according to Student Newman-Keuls test. CTL: control (without bacteria and chitosan); lip: treated only with A. lipoferum; flu: treated only with P. fluorescens; put: treated only with P. putida; lip-flu: treated with A. lipoferum-P. fluorescens in the same proportion; lip-put: treated with A. lipoferum-P. putida in the same proportion; flu-put: treated with P. fluorescens-P. putida in the same proportion; lip-flu-put: treated with A. lipoferum-P. fluorescens-P. putida in the same proportion; Q: treated only with chitosan; Q.lip: treated with chitosan-A. lipoferum in the same proportion; Q.flu: treated with chitosan-P. fluorescens in the same proportion; Q.put: treated with chitosan-P. putida in the same proportion; Q.lip-flu: treated with chitosan-A. lipoferum-P. fluorescens in the same proportion; Q.lip-put: treated with chitosan-A. lipoferum-P. putida in the same proportion; Q.flu-put: treated with chitosan-P. fluorescens-P. putida in the same proportion; Q.lip-flu-put: treated with chitosan-A. lipoferum-P. fluorescens-P. putida in the same proportion.