Regulation of an endophytic nitrogen-fixing bacteria GXS16 promoting drought tolerance in sugarcane

BACKGROUND: Drought limits crop growth and is an important issue in commercial sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) production. Drought tolerance in sugarcane induced by endophytic nitrogen-fixing bacteria is a complex biological process that ranges from altered gene expression and cellular metabolism to changes in growth and productivity. RESULTS: In this study, changes in physiological features and transcriptome related to drought tolerance in sugarcane conferred by the Burkholderia endophytic nitrogen-fixing bacterial strain GXS16 were investigated. Sugarcane samples inoculated with GXS16 exhibited significantly higher leaf relative water content than those without GXS16 inoculation during the drought stages. Sugarcane treated with GXS16 had lower levels of H(2)O(2) and higher levels of abscisic acid than sugarcane not treated with GXS16 in the non-watering groups. Transcriptomic analysis of sugarcane roots identified multiple differentially expressed genes between adjacent stages under different treatments. Moreover, both trend and weighted correlation network analyses revealed that carotenoid biosynthesis, terpenoid backbone biosynthesis, starch and sucrose metabolism, and plant hormone signal transduction strongly contributed to the drought-tolerant phenotype of sugarcane induced by GXS16 treatment. Accordingly, a gene regulatory network including four differentially regulated genes from carotenoid biosynthesis (crtB, crtZ, ZEP and CYP707A) and three genes from terpenoid backbone biosynthesis (dxs, dxr, and PCME) was constructed. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying the application of GXS16 treatment to enhance drought tolerance in sugarcane, which will lay the foundation for crop development and improve productivity. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12870-023-04600-5.