Table 1.

Mycorrhizal colonization of liquorice plants under different treatments. US and S represent unsterilization and sterilization treatments, respectively. −M and +M represent non-inoculation and AM inoculation, respectively. Data are presented as means ± standard error (SE, n = 4). Different lowercase letters after the means indicate a significant difference between corresponding treatments at p < 0.05 by Tukey’s HSD test. Mycorrhizal colonization rate (M%) and arbuscule abundance (A%) were analyzed using two-way ANOVA; ns, not significant, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01.

Sterilization (S)	Inoculation (I)	Mycorrhizal Colonization Rate (M%)	Arbuscule Abundance (A%)
US	−M	31.7 ± 5.2 b	6.0 ± 1.0 bc
	+M	49.9 ± 5.6 a	16.2 ± 3.2 ab
S	−M	0.0 ± 0.0 c	0.0 ± 0.0 c
	+M	65.3 ± 4.0 a	26.6 ± 5.2 a
ANOVA	S	F1,12 = 3.56 ns	F1,12 = 0.61 ns
	I	F1,12 = 94.07 **	F1,12 = 36.21 **
	S × I	F1,12 = 29.86 **	F1,12 = 6.69 *