Figure 1.

Response of aco1a to salt stress during germination and early radicle growth in C. pepo. (A) Germination rate of WT and mutant aco1a mutant seeds under control (solid lines) and saline conditions (dashed lines). Seeds were imbibed for 16 h in distilled water (control) and 200 mM NaCl and then allowed to germinate between two filter papers soaked in the same solution in Petri dishes. The percentage of germination was assessed every 2 h up to 216 h. (B) WT and aco1a seeds at different hours after germination (HAG) under control and salt conditions. (C) Percentage of germination of WT and aco1a seeds at 48, 72, 96, and 120 h after imbibition in water and 200 mM NaCl. (D) Percentages of reduction in germination in response to salt stress in WT and aco1a seeds with respect to those of the same genotype germinated in water. (E) Effect of aco1a mutation and salt stress on radicle length at 24 and 48 HAG. (F) Percentages of reduction in radicular length in response to salt stress in WT and aco1a seeds compared to those of the same genotype growing in water. Data are mean ± SE (n = 70). The error bars represent SE. Different letters indicate statistically significant differences (p ≤ 0.05) between samples taken at the same time.