Phenotypic analysis of different plant materials exposed to Cd²⁺ stress. A, RT-qPCR analysis of AtLCD in WT with (gray column) or without (black column) Cd²⁺ stress. RNA was extracted from 10-day-old plants exposed to 80 μM CdCl₂ for 0, 3, 6, 9, 12, and 24 h. AtACT2 was used as the internal control. Error bars represent SEs, n = 3. B and C, Analysis of the Cd²⁺ tolerance of WT, atlcd, AtLCD-OE1, and AtLCD-OE2 seedlings grown on 1/2 MS medium. B, Phenotype of seedlings at 14 days without (top panels) and with (bottom panels) the 80 μM CdCl₂ treatment; scale bar, 2 cm. C, Root lengths of seedlings at 14 days. Error bars represent SEs, n ≥ 10. The heat map displays AtLCD expression in WT, atlcd, AtLCD-OE1, and AtLCD-OE2 seedlings, and is based on the RT-qPCR data shown in Supplemental Figures S1 and S2. D, RT-qPCR analysis of the AtPRMT5 gene in WT with (gray column) or without (black column) Cd²⁺ stress. Error bars represent SEs, n = 3. E and F, Analysis of the Cd²⁺ tolerance of WT, atprmt5-1, atprmt5-2, AtPRMT5-OE1, and AtPRMT5-OE2 seedlings grown on 1/2 MS medium. E, Phenotypes of seedlings grown on medium without (top panels) or with (bottom panels) 80 μM CdCl₂ for 14 days. The heat map displays the AtPRMT5 expression in WT, atprmt5-1, atprmt5-2, AtPRMT5-OE1, and AtPRMT5-OE2 seedlings based on the RT-qPCR data shown in Supplemental Figures S1 and S2. Scale bar, 2 cm. F, Root lengths of seedlings at 14 days. Error bars represent SEs, n ≥ 10. G, Root lengths relative to controls of seedlings grown on 1/2 MS medium for 14 days. Error bars represent SEs, n = 3. All the data are means ± se. Experiments were performed three times with similar results. Different letters indicate significant differences (one-way ANOVA test, P < 0.05). * and ** represent significant difference (P < 0.05) and extremely significant difference (P < 0.01), respectively.