Droplets (50 ll) of a 1:1 suspension of conidia from each pathogen–endophyte combination were pipetted into the well of a cavity glass slide. Similar droplets of the pathogen alone were used as a control. The conidial concentration of Dtr was 2 105 conidia/ml and the fungal endophytes were 2 106 conidia/ml. The yeast and the bacteria were used at 1 108 CFU/ml. All concentrations were adjusted as described above. The slides were incubated in small moisture chambers at 24 ± 2 C in darkness for 48 h and then examined using light microscopy. Spore germination was assessed from three replicates of 12 microscopic fields at 100 and 200 magnifications. A conidium was considered to have germinated if the germ-tube was more than one-half of the length of the