<i>Claroideoglomus etunicatum</i> and <i>Pantoea dispersa</i> significantly enhance growth and nutrition of broom grass

Treatments	Height (cm/ plant)	Stem diameter (mm/ plant)	BI	Shoot dry weight (g/ plant)	Root dry weight (g/ plant)	Total plant dry weight (g/ plant)
Uninoculated control	26.3^c	4.3^b	114.8^b	16.6^c	9.2^b	25.8^c
Claroideoglomus	31.0^ab	4.4^a	136.7^a	22.1^b	12.0^a	34.1^b
Pantoea dispersa(P.di)	29.0^b	4.4^a	128.9^ab	20.8^b	11.4^ab	32.2^b
C.et+ P.di	32.3^a	4.4^a	144.1^a	25.7^a	12.2^a	37.9^a
SED	1.28	0.22	9.93	1.23	0.94	1.53
CD (0.05)	2.57	0.45	20.00	2.54	1.93	3.15
Values superscripted with identical letters within each column do not differ significantly at p≤0.05; CD: Critical difference; UC: Uninoculated control; C.et: Claroideoglomus etunicatum; P.di: Pantoea dispersa

Table 1. Influence of microbial inoculants on plant growth parameters of broom grass

Treatments	N		P		K		Ca		Mg
Treatments	Shoot	Root	Shoot	Root	Shoot	Root	Shoot	Root	Shoot	Root
UC	Shoot	Root	Shoot	Root	Shoot	Root	Shoot	Root	Shoot	Root	0.89^c	0.70^c	0.24^b	0.09^d	2.02^d	0.86^c	0.67^c	0.34^c	0.22^c	0.12^c
C.et	0.95^b	0.75^b	0.29^a	0.15^b	2.09^b	1.51^b	0.76^a	0.58^a	0.26^a	0.14^b
P.di	1.00^a	0.75^b	0.26^b	0.11^c	2.06^c	1.50^b	0.73^b	0.52^b	0.24^b	0.12^c
C.et+P.di	1.00^a	0.77^a	0.31^a	0.19^a	2.13^a	1.60^a	0.77^a	0.58^a	0.27^a	0.24^a
SED	0.002	0.01	0.009	0.01	0.007	2.35	0.008	0.01	0.008	0.01
CD (0.05)	0.001	0.02	0.002	0.01	0.017	5.76	0.020	0.01	0.020	0.01
Values superscripted with identical letters within each column do not differ significantly at p≤0.05; CD: Critical difference; UC: Uninoculated control; C.et: Claroideoglomus etunicatum; P.di: Pantoea dispersa

Table 2. Influence of microbial inoculants on major and secondary nutrient concentration (%) of broom grass

Treatments	Zn		Fe		Cu		Mn		B		Mo
Treatments	Shoot	Root	Shoot	Root	Shoot	Root	Shoot	Root	Shoot	Root	Shoot	Root
UC	Shoot	Root	Shoot	Root	Shoot	Root	Shoot	Root	Shoot	Root	Shoot	Root	42.4^c	30.2^d	371.1^c	174.4^d	26.9^d	37.7^c	22.8^b	9.3^c	18.2^d	7.5^c	7.6^d	43.1^c
C.et	63.7^a	62.6^b	495.3^b	276.3^c	34.7^b	58.4^b	31.3^a	17.1^b	22.9^c	11.9^b	14.5^b	72.0^a
P.di	53.3^b	49.6^c	501.9^b	304.1^b	31.4^c	56.3^b	31.4^a	14.2^b	29.0^b	15.7^a	11.5^c	62.7^b
C.et+P.di	65.6^a	73.5^a	646.6^a	327.6^a	52.6^a	142.0^a	31.4^a	52.0^a	35.1^a	16.4^a	22.8^a	79.3^a
SED	0.82	3.78	6.42	3.46	0.41	3.10	0.71	1.31	0.01	0.61	0.01	3.01
CD (0.05)	2.01	9.25	15.71	8.47	0.99	7.59	1.73	3.21	0.01	1.50	0.01	7.36
Values superscripted with identical letters within each column do not differ significantly at p≤0.05; CD: Critical difference; UC: Uninoculated control; C.et: Claroideoglomus etunicatum; P.di: Pantoea dispersa

Table 3. Influence of microbial inoculants on minor nutrient concentration (ppm) of broom grass

Treatments	Mycorrhizal root colonization (%)	Mycorrhizal spore number/ 50 g of substrate	*CFU of P. dispersa* (10⁵/ g substrate)**	Dehydrogenase (μg of TPF released/ g root zone soil/ hr)
Treatments	Uninoculated control	51.3^c	20.5^d	8.5^b	1975^d
Claroideoglomus etunicatum (Ce)	90.7^a	298.9^b	10^b	2512.5^b
Pantoea dispersa (Pd)	69.3^b	110^c	79^a	2150^c
Ce+Pd	96.7^a	430.6^a	85^a	2577.5^a
SED	0.52	10.33	2.93	8.16
CD (0.05)	1.06	21.16	6.75	18.82
Values superscripted with identical letters within each column do not differ significantly at p≤0.05; CD: Critical difference; UC: Uninoculated control; C.et: Claroideoglomus etunicatum; P.di: Pantoea dispersa

Table 4. Influence of microbial inoculants on microbial parameters of broom grass