Field Studies on the Relationship between Fusarium verticillioides and Maize (Zea mays L.): Effect of Biocontrol Agents on Fungal Infection and Toxin Content of Grains at Harvest

Table 3

Yield, F. verticillioides count and fumonisin contents of maize grains harvested during four consecutive growing seasons.

	2004-2005	2005-2006	2006-2007	2007-2008
	Yield (Kg ha^−1)*
T1 (c)	5900 ± 200 a	3050 ± 218 a	6429 ± 398 a	4081 ± 497 a
T2 (+ Ba)	6050 ± 577 a	3210 ± 226 a	7030 ± 207 a	3452 ± 399 a
T3 (+ Mo)	5830 ± 364 a	3175 ± 363 a	6475 ± 412 a	3434 ± 404 a
	Fumonisin B1content (ppm)**
T1 (c)	2.65 ± 0.24 a	4.27 ± 0.41 a	0.04 ± 0.01 a	1.24 ± 0.05 a
T2 (+ Ba)	0.15 ± 0.01 b	2.48 ± 0.16 b	0.03 ± 0.01 a	0.65 ± 0.04 b
T3 (+ Mo)	1.86 ± 0.04 c	3.45 ± 0.21 c	0.04 ± 0.01 a	0.23 ± 0.06 c
	Fusarium verticillioides count (CFU g^−1 grain)***
T1 (c)	1.05 × 10^3 ± 2.12 × 10^2 a	1,66 × 10^5 ± 1,07 × 10^2 a	3,11  × 10^4 ± 4.58  × 10^2 a	3,41  × 10^4± 7,23  × 10^1 a
T2 (+ Ba)	1.50 × 10^2 ± 7.07 × 10^1 b	1,78 × 10^3 ± 1,17 × 10^1 b	1,26  × 10^3± 1,38  × 10^1 b	1.28  × 10^3 ± 1.30  ×10^1 b
T3 (+ Mo)	3.50 × 10^2 ± 7.00 × 10^1 b	5,25 × 10^3 ± 1,26 × 10^1 ab	1,50  × 10^4 ± 1,60  × 10^2 ab	3,57  × 10^3± 1.09 x 10^1 ab

Treatments were sown at field and arranged in a complete randomized block design with 3 replications per treatment. Individual plots consisted in four rows with 25 seeds each. Adjacent plots were separated with three spacer rows sown with untreated seeds. Data are means and standard deviations of treatment replications since no significant block effects were observed. *Data correspond to three determinations, **data correspond to three determinations performed in duplicate, and ***data correspond to six determinations performed in triplicate. Different letters indicate significant differences between treatments within the same season (𝑃<0.05, ANOVA for complete randomized blocks). T1 (c): control seeds, T2 (+Ba): seeds treated with a suspension of B. amyloliquefaciens 10⁹ CFUs ml⁻¹, T3 (+Mo): seeds treated with a suspension of M. oleovorans 10⁹ CFUs ml⁻¹.