Table 1. Results of ANOVA on the effects of GABA (G) and NaCl concentration (N) on maize seedling growth, cell membrane permeability, GABA synthase activity, osmoprotectants, antioxidants and photosynthesis.

Effect	G	N	G × N	Error	Total variation
df	1	2	2	12	17
Plant height	6.26*	29.59**	0.45ns
Leaf area per plant	9.16*	24.25**	0.66ns
Leaf fresh weight per plant	9.69**	34.71**	0.72ns
Leaf dry weight per plant	7.62*	19.78**	0.85ns
Membrane damage	4.92*	8.96**	2.31ns
SPAD value	4.76*	29.26**	0.53ns
Relative leaf water content	9.97**	134.55**	6.72*
Cellular reduction ability	8.82*	22.40**	0.99ns
GAD	2283**	618**	170**
SOD	65.74**	2209.79**	13.87**
POD	20.90**	119.77**	7.32**
CAT	13.64**	98.10**	7.22**
APX	49.31**	258.91**	15.92**
Proline	75.66**	169.04**	5.88*
Soluble sugar	41.16**	247.84**	4.92*
MDA	7.99*	134.89**	1.95ns
Superoxide anion	31.70**	428.38**	10.66**
Pn	22.93**	71.62**	0.29ns
Trmmol	3.00ns	15.52**	0.05ns
Ci	10.97**	124.09**	1.60ns
Gs	21.33**	50.08**	2.53ns
F0	27.78**	372.65**	11.94**
Fm	12.30**	107.27**	0.64ns
Fv/Fm	25.20**	201.46**	4.80*
ETR	5.59*	69.07**	0.54ns

ns denotes non-significant, *P < 0.05, **P < 0.01.