(a, b) Comparison of specific leaf area (SLA) (a) and thickness (b) of flag leaves in Koshihikari, Koshihikari NIL-GPS, Takanari, and Takanari NIL-GPS. LVB, large vascular bundle, SVB, small vascular bundle. (c–f) Cross-sections of flag leaves stained with toluidine blue in Koshihikari (c), Koshihikari NIL-GPS (d), Takanari (e), and Takanari NIL-GPS (f). (g–j) Comparisons of mesophyll cell number (g), mean mesophyll cell size (h), total mesophyll area of cross-section (i), and interveinal distance (j) between LVB and SVB and between SVBs in the four genotypes. Each column represents mean ± s.d. (n = 9). Different letters indicate significant difference at the 5% level (Tukey-Kramer HSD test).