Fig. 5
Comparison of pathogenicity of different F. verticillioides isolates. a The maize kernels were inoculated with conidia from each isolate with different spore killing genotypes and mating types. The maize kernels were photographed at 7 days post-inoculation. The maize kernels were inoculated with sterile water as the negative control. b The fungal relative biomass of F. verticillioides in maize kernels was determined by qPCR. The LNF15-11 isolate was used as a control. Data represent the mean of three replicates. Bars indicate standard error. The *, **, and *** indicate, respectively, significant differences at P < 0.05, P < 0.01, and P < 0.001 according to a one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA)