Fig. 1

Performance of AtSOAR1-transgenic plants under salt stress in early seedling stage. A Schematic diagram of the AtSOAR1-containing plant expression vector used for rice transformation. B Real-time PCR detection of AtSOAR1 transcripts level in wild-type and the two transgenic lines. Total RNA was extracted from two-week-old seedlings and used for cDNA synthesis. Actin1 was used for internal control and the expression level of AtSOAR1 in OE-1 was taken as 1. All the values are means ± SE from three independent biological determinations. C Western bolt analysis of AtSOAR1 expression in wild-type and two transgenic lines. Total protein was extracted from two-week-old seedlings and used for immunoblotting. Actin protein was taken as a loading control for immunoblotting. D Phenotypic comparison of wild-type and AtSOAR1-transgenic plants OE-1 and OE-2 grown under different concentration of NaCl solution (100 and 140 mM) at the seedling stage. Hydroponic cultured two-week-old seedlings were treated with 100 mM NaCl for 14d or 140 mM NaCl for 8d, and then recovered for 7 d. Three independent biological determinations were conducted and similar results were obtained. E, F Survival rates of the wild-type and transgenic plants as described in (d) after 7d recovery. All the values are means ± SE from three independent biological determinations. Student’s t test was used for comparing the survival rate of each overexpression line with those of wild-type plants (with significant differences at **P < 0.01). G, H Chlorophyll content G and relative ion leakage H of the wild-type and transgenic plants under normal and salt stress conditions. Two-week-old seedlings were treated with 100 mM NaCl for 9 d to assay chlorophyll content, or for 24 h to detect relative ion leakage. Student’s t test was used for comparing the chlorophyll content or relative ion leakage of each overexpression line with those of wild-type plants (with significant differences at **P < 0.01)