Fig. 4: Lacking ZmESBL function leads to incomplete and less organized Casparian strips.

a Lignin staining-based observation of the endodermal Casparian strips in ZmESBL^crispr and wild-type plants grown under control and salt conditions. Basic fuchsin staining of lignin (see methods) were performed, showed the longitudinal view of the endodermal cells at 1.0 cm, 1.25 cm, 1.5 cm, 1.75 cm, 2.0 cm, 2.5 cm, and 3.0 cm from the root apex. b The lignin content of the wild-type and ZmESBL^crispr plants under the control and salt conditions. The plant were grown under control and salt (100 mM NaCl) conditions for 3 days, then the indicated root segments of the primary root were collected to measure the lignin content. c Transmission electron microscopy-based assay of Casparian strip structure in the wild-type and ZmESBL^crispr-1 plants under control and salt conditions. d The widths of the later Casparian strip in the wild-type roots under control and salt conditions. e, f The effect of salt stress on the transcript levels of ZmESBL in shoot and root tissue (e), or in indicated root segments with 6-h treatment (f). The results in (b), (e), and (f) were means ± s.d. of three independent experiments. Statistical significance was determined by a two-sided t-test. The images in a and c were representative of at least three independent repeats with similar results. Bars in (a) and (c), respectively, equaled to 20 and 0.5 μm. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.