Phenotypic characterization and sampling
For the first month of salt treatment, we used a steremicroscope M165 FC
(Leica, Germany) to find out whether the axillary bud was initiated by
removing the leaf sheath enclosed the culm. In order to calculate the
percentage of tillering, 3 plots (at least 10 seedlings) were randomly
selected to determine whether the tillering was happening or not. The
percentage of tillering and number of tillers per seedling were recorded
every 10 days. In the same time, the plant height was measured. Each
experiment was performed by three replicates. After measurement, the
different tissues of S. alterniflora seedlings were cut and
directly frozen in liquid nitrogen and stored in -80oC for further analysis.