Effect of salinity on germination and plant growth. A and B, Germination of wild type, aba2, and overexpression lines on 1% Suc agar plates supplemented with 125 (A) or 250 mm (B) NaCl. Germination rates were the means ± sd of three independent experiments using different seed batches, with consistent results, each with 150 to 200 seeds. WT, Wild type. C, Phenotypic comparison of wild type, aba2, and overexpression lines grown on 1% Suc agar plates plus 250 mm NaCl with or without 1 μm fluridone for 14 d. D and E, ABA levels of wild type, aba2, and transgenic lines. Seedlings were grown on 1% Suc agar plates for 5 d, then transferred to the same fresh medium supplemented with 125 mm NaCl for another 7 d (D) or 250 mm NaCl for another 2 d (E). The values are the means ± sd of three independent experiments using different seed batches, each performed in duplicate. F, Phenotypic comparison of wild type, aba2, and transgenic line 4-4. Seedlings were grown on 1% Suc plates supplemented with 200 mm NaCl for 28 d. G, Quantification of bleached plants of wild type, aba2, and transgenic line 4-4 in F. The values are the means ± sd of three independent experiments using different seed batches and with consistent results, each with 200 to 250 seeds. H, Phenotypic comparison of wild type, aba2, and overexpression line 4-4 in response to salinity. A total of 75 plants from each genotype, grown in soil for 21 d, were tested by watering with four increasing concentrations of NaCl (50, 100, 150, and 200 mm), each for 4 d for a total of 16 d. Seeds tested in this study were cold pretreated before planting on agar plates or in soil.