Table 3.

C, N, P, Ca, K, and Mg concentrations in the shoot and root and C:N:P ratios of liquorice plant 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. C, N, P, Ca, K, and Mg concentrations in the shoot and root and C:N:P ratios of liquorice plant were analyzed using two-way ANOVA; As the exception, root C concentrations and C:N ratios of the treatments were compared by using a nonparametric Kruskal–Wallis test; ns, not significant, * p < 0.05, ** p < 0.01.

	Sterilization (S)	Inoculation (I)	C (mg g−1)	N (mg g−1)	P (mg g−1)	K (mg g−1)	Ca (mg g−1)	Mg (mg g−1)	C:N	C:P	N:P
Shoot	US	−M	435 ± 5 a	20.24 ± 0.67 b	1.66 ± 0.09 a	18.53 ± 0.77 b	13.93 ± 0.57 b	2.76 ± 0.16 b	21.55 ± 0.53 a	264 ± 14.71 b	12.2 ± 0.62 b
		+M	435 ± 4 a	19.78 ± 0.49 b	1.60 ± 0.16 a	17.81 ± 1.53 b	11.27 ± 0.35 c	2.34 ± 0.23 b	22.03 ± 0.36 a	280 ± 26.92 b	12.7 ± 1.16 b
	S	−M	411 ± 3 b	24.33 ± 0.58 a	0.42 ± 0.01 b	22.85 ± 0.76 a	25.90 ± 0.75 a	4.48 ± 0.32 a	16.93 ± 0.53 b	962 ± 32.73 a	57.1 ± 3.07 a
		+M	443 ± 3 a	20.41 ± 0.88 b	1.60 ± 0.06 a	16.83 ± 0.60 b	11.96 ± 0.95 bc	2.28 ± 0.21 b	21.85 ± 1.03 a	278 ± 12.31 b	12.7 ± 0.35 b
	ANOVA	S	F1,12 = 4.60 ns	F1,12 = 12.37 **	F1,12 = 117.23 **	F1,12 = 2.89 ns	F1,12 = 47.97 **	F1,12 = 12.18 **	F1,12 = 13.28 **	F1,12 = 223.70 **	F1,12 = 947.92 **
		I	F1,12 = 18.09 **	F1,12 = 10.65 **	F1,12 = 105.79 **	F1,12 = 11.67 **	F1,12 = 104.19 **	F1,12 = 30.20 **	F1,12 = 16.72 **	F1,12 = 206.51 **	F1,12 = 884.38 **
		S × I	F1,12 = 18.01 **	F1,12 = 6.65 *	F1,12 = 122.85 **	F1,12 = 7.23 *	F1,12 = 34.44 **	F1,12 = 13.85 **	F1,12 = 11.32 **	F1,12 = 227.12 **	F1,12 = 955.09 **
Root	US	−M	403 ± 10 b	16.26 ± 1.75 b	2.58 ± 0.14 a	7.48 ± 0.15 a	3.83 ± 0.20	0.69 ± 0.07 b	25.53 ± 2.23 a	157 ± 5.20 b	6.24 ± 0.34 b
		+M	413 ± 5 b	16.72 ± 0.82 b	2.43 ± 0.11 a	7.89 ± 0.47 a	4.15 ± 0.35	0.90 ± 0.08 b	24.85 ± 1.16 a	171 ± 9.24 b	6.94 ± 0.57 b
	S	−M	436 ± 2 a	29.64 ± 0.41 a	0.69 ± 0.01 b	4.28 ± 0.05 b	4.40 ± 0.37	1.55 ± 0.06 a	14.71 ± 0.13 b	636 ± 13.23 a	43.4 ± 0.66 a
		+M	422 ± 1b	18.89 ± 0.77 b	2.62 ± 0.15 a	7.95 ± 0.45 a	4.19 ± 0.17	0.85 ± 0.06 b	22.45 ± 0.97 a	153 ± 14.16 b	6.87 ± 0.76 b
	ANOVA	S	-	F1,12 = 53.87 **	F1,12 = 167.49 **	F1,12 = 22.00 **	F1,12 = 1.53 ns	F1,12 = 40.86 **	-	F1,12 = 440.14 **	F1,12 = 47.32 **
		I	-	F1,12 = 23.58 **	F1,12 = 174.00 **	F1,12 = 37.24 **	F1,12 = 0.05 ns	F1,12 = 14.32 **	-	F1,12 = 455.94 **	F1,12 = 37.76 **
		S × I	-	F1,12 = 27.98 **	F1,12 = 208.10 **	F1,12 = 23.77 **	F1,12 = 1.11 ns	F1,12 = 51.36 **	-	F1,12 = 511.41 **	F1,12 = 41.40 **