Fig. 3

Phenotype analysis of SFAR4 transgenic plants under osmotic (glucose and mannitol) stress. a Germination rates of SFAR4 transgenic plants in MS medium with or without 5 % glucose or mannitol. Solid lines indicate Pro _35S :SFAR4 transgenic plants, whereas hollow lines indicate sfar4 knockout mutants. Wild-type (Col-0) is indicated by asterisks. Germination was defined as complete protrusion of the radicle. b Germination rates of SFAR4 transgenic plants in different concentrations of glucose at 84 h. c, d The cotyledon expansion and greening of SFAR4 transgenic plants in MS medium plates with or without 5 % glucose or 5 % mannitol for 7 days. sfar4-1 and sfar4-2 represent knockout mutants, while Pro _35S :SFAR4 #10 and #11 indicate SFAR4 overexpressors. WT indicates wild type (Col-0). The percentage of the cotyledon expansion and greening seedlings were measured. Each value is the mean of three independent measures, and the error bars correspond to the standard error (n = 50). Asterisks were used to indicate statistically significant difference compared with wild-type plants as determined by Student’s t test (*P < 0.05 and **P < 0.001, respectively)