2. Materials and methods
2.1. Plant material and treatments
Seeds of O. sativa L. cvs. Pusa Basmati 1 (PB) and
Pokkali (PK) were obtained from Directorate of Rice Research,
Hyderabad and Rice Research Station (Vytilla) of
Kerala Agricultural University. Surface sterilized seeds were
germinated on water soaked filter paper (Whatman no. 1).
After germination, seedlings were grown hydroponically in
Murashige and Skoog (MS) medium [13] at a temperature
of 25 ◦C, relative humidity of 60% and photoperiod of
16 h (700molm−2 s−1). When the root and shoot length
measured approximately 7 and 10 cm, the seedlings were
stressed with varying concentrations of NaCl (100, 150, 200,
250 and 300 mM) for 42 h and fresh weight (FW) and dry
weight (DW) measured.
2.2. Estimation of proline