Fig. 3.

Effect of endophytes (Diaporthe sp., Xylaria sp. and P. exigua var. exigua) on arbuscular mycorrhizal colonization parameters of V. lychnitis inoculated with R. irregularis (AMF). The depicted parameters arethe following: F (%) mycorrhizal colonization frequency, M (%) relative mycorrhizal colonization intensity, and A (%) arbuscule abundance. Plants were cultivated in a greenhouse in substratum composed of a mixture of tailings material, sand, and expanded clay at 3:1:1(v/v/v). The numbers are given in percent according to the parameter definitions by Trouvelot et al. (1986). Bars represent mean values from 6 independent measurements, N = 6. Asterisks above the columns indicate statistically significant differences (t test) between each treatment and M control (P ≤ 0.05)