Fig. 4: lal showed salinity tolerance with enhanced ROS and ABA synthesis pathways.

a The scheme of LAL and MtLHCB1.1, MtLHCB1.2, MtLHCB1.3 and MtLHCB1.4 genes structure and Tnt1 insertions in LAL of lal-1, lal-2 and lal-3. Empty boxes represent MtLHCB1s, and black boxes represent LAL. Three arrows indicate the positions where Tnt1 inserts in LAL. Bar = 400 bp. The expression level of LAL (b) and MtLHCB1s (c) in lal-2 and lal-3 by qRT-PCR. d Four-week-old plants of WT, lal-2 and lal-3 mutants after a four-week successive exposure to 50, 100, 150 and 200 mM NaCl. Bar = 5 cm. e The plant survival rates of WT, lal-2 and lal-3 measured after the four-week treatment of salinity. f The MDA content of WT, lal-2 and lal-3 mutants. g The DAB staining of WT, lal-2 and lal-3 mutants. Bar = 1 cm. h The H₂O₂ contents of WT, lal-2 and lal-3 mutants. The expression level of MtRbohB (i), MtRbohD (j) and MtCAT1 (k) in WT, lal-2 and lal-3 by qRT-PCR. l The CAT activity in WT, lal-2 and lal-3. m The expression level of MtABA1 in WT, lal-2 and lal-3 by qRT-PCR. n The expression level of MtNCED3 in WT, lal-2 and lal-3 by qRT-PCR. o The ABA contents of WT, lal-2 and lal-3 mutants. Error bars represent the SD from three biological replicates (grey dots). Columns labeled with asterisks indicate significant differences from those in WT (*P < 0.05, student’s t test). n = 3. MtUBIQUITIN was used as the internal control in qRT-PCR. The expression level in WT was set at 1.0. Response to salinity stress on photosynthetic parameters NPQ (p) and qL (q) of the WT, lal-2 and lal-3 mutants at different time points of NaCl-treatment. Values are shown by mean ± SD (grey dots with black circles). Columns labeled with asterisks indicate significant differences from those in WT (*P < 0.05, student’s t test). n = 25.