Observation of microscopic sections of rice shoots
The structure of transverse sections of shoots from the lines of OE, knockout, and NIP at the tillering stage (30 days) was observed using a stereoscopic microscope (Olympus SZ61, Germany). One 0.1 mm slice was cut transversely with bare hands at the second internode, counting from the bottom of the stem. The thicknesses of the five largest sclerenchyma layers were then recorded. One slice was observed for each tiller and three major tillers were chosen for each plant. Nine slices were recorded in each line.