Two sweet corn varieties, Insee 2 and Hi-Brix 3 were used to assess the effects of Azospirillum brasilense strains (LB1- 1, LB1-2, LB1-3, and LB1-4) on seed germination and seedling development under laboratory and greenhouse growth conditions. The highest germination percentage (95%) was observed with the uninoculated (control) seeds in Insee 2 and seeds inoculated with LB1-3 in Hi-Brix3. Insee 2 seeds inoculated with LB1-2 showed the highest germination index (GI) at 62.06% and in Hi-Brix 3, seeds inoculated with LB1-1 had the highest GI at 79.86. The effects of Azospirillum brasilense on seedling growth in both varieties of inoculated seeds in all strains were similar to the control in laboratory conditions. All strains had endophytic characters but showed differences in terms of growth. Only 3 treatments (TS2 9 [reference strain], LB1-1, and LB1-4) in the Insee 2 showed endophytic characters in both conditions. The TS29 and LB1-4 showed endophytic characters in laboratory conditions and all treatments had no endophytic characters in the greenhouse conditions in Hi-Brix 3.
