# Antifungal Activity of Quaternary Pyridinium Salts Against _Fusarium culmorum_ in Wheat Seedlings
## 3 Results
### The Effect of Nicotinamide Derivatives on the Fresh and lyophilized Root Mass of Wheat Seedlings  
The results in Figure 4 show the effect of nicotinamide derivatives (at concentrations of 10 and 100 \(\upmu\)g/mL) on wheat seedlings' fresh and lyophilized root mass. Most nicotinamide derivatives resulted in a statistically significant increase in fresh root mass compared to the control (sterile grain). The exceptions were compounds **(1)** and **(5)** at a 100 \(\upmu\)g/mL concentration, for which no statistically significant differences were observed compared to the control (sterile grain). However, all tested compounds showed significantly lower fresh root mass values than the fungicide treatment. Compounds **(1)** and **(5)** at 100 \(\upmu\)g/mL exhibited similarly low effects on the fresh root mass of wheat, while compound **(2a)** at 10 \(\upmu\)g/mL showed a moderately higher value. Compound **(3)**, at both concentrations (10 and 100 \(\upmu\)g/mL), resulted in similarly high fresh root mass values.  
A statistically significant increase in lyophilized root mass compared to the control was observed only for compound **(3)** at 100 \(\upmu\)g/mL. No significant differences were found for the remaining compounds. All tested derivatives had a lower effect on lyophilized root mass than the fungicide. Among the compounds, similar values for lyophilized root mass were observed for compounds **(1)** and **(5)** at 100 \(\upmu\)g/mL and compound **(2a)** at 10 \(\upmu\)g/mL. Additionally, compounds **(3)** and **(4)**, both at 100 \(\upmu\)g/mL, had comparable effects on lyophilized root mass (Figure 4).  
### The Effect of Nicotinamide Derivatives on the Fresh and lyophilized Root Mass of Wheat Seedlings  
A comparison of nicotinamide derivatives and the control (sterile grain) regarding the fresh shoot mass showed that three compounds - **(4)** and **(5)** at a 100 \(\upmu\)g/mL concentration and compound **(3)** at concentrations of 10 and 100 \(\upmu\)g/mL--exhibited a statistically significant higher influence on fresh shoot mass compared to the control treatment (sterile grain).  
When comparing the mutual influence of individual nicotinamide derivatives on the fresh shoot mass, similar effects were observed between compound **(1)** at a 100 \(\upmu\)g/mL concentration and compound **(2)** at a 10 \(\upmu\)g/mL concentration, as well as between compound **(3)** at both concentrations (10 and 100 \(\upmu\)g/mL) and compounds **(4)** and **(5)** used at a 100 \(\upmu\)g/mL concentration (Figure 5).  
Figure 4: The effect of nicotinamide derivatives on the fresh and lyophilized root mass. The columns (fresh root mass) and lines (lyophilized root mass) represent the mean of three replicates per treatment. Error bars represent the standard error (SE) of the mean. Differences between treatment means are indicated by different letters according to the Tukey HSD test (\(p\leq 0.05\)). Labels: **(1)**, **(3)**, **(4)**, **(5)**—compounds at a 100 \(\upmu\)g/mL concentration; **(2a)**, **(3a)**—compounds at a 10 \(\upmu\)g/mL concentration. Small letters indicate differences in fresh root mass; capital letters indicate differences in lyophilized root mass.  
Comparison of nicotinamide derivatives and the control (sterile grain) concerning the lyophilized shoot mass showed a statistically significant higher value of lyophilized seedling mass for compounds **(4)** and **(5)** applied at a 100 \(\upmu\)g/mL concentration and compound **(3)** used at both concentrations (10 and 100 \(\upmu\)g/mL). Furthermore, all tested compounds resulted in significantly lower lyophilized shoot mass values than the fungicide treatment.  
When comparing the mutual influence of nicotinamide derivatives on the lyophilized shoot mass, similar effects were observed between compound **(1)** at 100 \(\upmu\)g/mL and compound **(2)** at a 10 \(\upmu\)g/mL concentration. A similar effect was noted for compound **(3)**, regardless of concentration, and for compounds **(4)** and **(5)** at a 100 \(\upmu\)g/mL concentration (Figure 5).