Fig. 5

Screening assay for the effect of different bacterial isolates. a Inoculated (right tray) and mock-inoculated (left tray) juvenile maize plants grown for 30 days under chilling conditons (16 h/8 h light/dark regime and 17 °C/12 °C) (a) treated with RHG12 (Pseudoduganella sp.) (right tray) and (b) treated with RHG17 (Rhizobium sp.) (right tray). b Different bacterial isolates screened for growth-promoting effects on juvenile maize grown under chilling stress conditions. In total, 28 different isolates belonging to three different phyla were screened. Total fresh weights of bacterial- and mock-inoculated (n = 15) plants were measured and compared in two or three repeats. The figure illustrates the 95% confidence interval, based on a two-sample Student’s t test, of the treated plants compared with the mock-inoculated control. When the confidence interval does not cross the dashed line at zero, the effect is significant