2.8. Data analysis

Data were tested for normality of distribution and homogeneity of variance and then the data were log-transformed. Generalized linear model (GLM) based on maximum likelihood model fitting was used to analyze the statistical impact for individual and interactive effects of salt, bacteria, and time on photosynthesis characteristics, volatile emissions, ACC accumulation, and ACO activity. GLM was performed in SPSS v.24 (IBM SPSS, Chicago, IL, USA). Data plots were made using SigmaPlot Version 12.5 (Systat Software Inc, San Jose, CA, USA). All statistical effects were considered significant at P < 0.05. Correlation matrix among Na⁺ /K⁺ ratio, total volatile emission rates, ACO activity and ACC accumulation in both the rice cultivars was generated using (corrplot) R-package (Wei and Simko, 2013). We used four treatments: 0 mM, 0 mM + Bacteria, 100 mM, 100 mM + Bacteria), and two time points (1 and 10 days) for each rice cultivar. All statistical effects were considered significant at P < 0.05 (Figure S1).