Fig. 1

Experimental workflow of the rice salinity regime and phenotyping at the seedling stage. Rice seeds were sterilized and germinated at 37 °C for two days. Germinated seeds were transferred to the hydroponic system on day 3. Salinity treatment was started from 50 mM NaCl on day 6 and progressively increased to 150 mM on day 8, which allowed the seedling to acclimate to salt stress. The fully developed second leaf was selected for chlorophyll fluorescence measurement from day 8 to day 11. Salt tolerance level was evaluated and assigned an injury score on day 11