FIGURE 7.

Analysis of osmotic stress tolerance in VqSTS21 transgenic Arabidopsis lines and untransformed controls. Mature VqSTS21 transgenic lines (L1, L2, and L3) and untransformed controls (Col-0) were subjected to salt stress (watering with 130 mM NaCl) or drought. (A–C) Representative images of 5-week old plants 7 days following no treatment (A), or treatment with salt (B) and drought (C), respectively. Scale bars = 40 mm. (D) Survival rates of plants were assessed 7 days following the initiation of salt and drought treatments. Asterisks indicate significant differences between Col-0 and transgenic lines as determined by Student’s t-test (^∗∗P < 0.01). (E) Nitro blue tetrazolium (NBT) staining for detecting the accumulation of superoxide (${\mathrm{O}}_{\mathrm{2}}^{\mathrm{–}}$) was carried out using detached leaves from untreated and osmotic stress-treated plants. Scale bars = 3.5 mm. (F) The water loss rate of detached leaves from 5-week-old plants was determined in untreated plants.