To examine whether the inoculation with SA03 improved photosynthetic capacity in plants, several parameters associated with photosynthesis were examined. Under non-stress condition, there was indistinct difference between the non-inoculated and inoculated plants (Figures 2A–D). After 2 and 4 weeks of the stress treatment, total chlorophyll content was markedly decreased in the non-inoculated plants. However, the inoculated plants displayed higher chlorophyll levels under the stress compared with the non-inoculated plants [Figure 2A; F(5,54) = 84.31, P < 0.05]. In accordance with this, soil inoculation significantly increased photosynthetic efficiency in the stress-treated plants. The values of Fv/Fm, a pivotal index for the efficiency of PSII photochemistry, were also remarkably increased in the inoculated plants under the stress compared with the non-inoculated plants [Figure 2B; F(5,54) = 124.74, P < 0.05]. Similar results were observed for ΦPSII [Figure 2C; F(5,54) = 143.80, P < 0.05] and Pn [Figure 2D; F(5,54) = 118.43, P < 0.05]. After 4 weeks of saline–alkaline treatment, the non-inoculated plants displayed fully swollen chloroplasts and more rudimentary grana lamellae in plastids of mesophyll cells, but the number of normal grana stacking and grana lamellae was greater in the inoculated plants (Figures 2E–L).