Fig. 9

The overexpression of PtSMXL7b promotes the growth of poplar axillary buds. a Phenotypic identification of poplar. b Relative expression level of PtSMXL7b gene in overexpression and wild-type lines. c Plant height of overexpression and wild-type lines. d Number of internodes in overexpression and wild-type lines. e The number of axillary buds that grew in the overexpression and wild-type lines after removing the first five internodes for 10 days. f Poplars in which the first five internodes were removed (g) Phenotypic identification of poplar after removing the first five internodes for 10 days. The grown axillary buds are pointed out with white triangles. Data are means ± SE (n = 10), and were analyzed by Student’s t tests (*p < 0.05 and **p < 0.01). Scale bars, 10 cm (a), 5 cm (f). The “#” represent the duplication in the line