Drought-tolerant sugarcane improves rhizosphere bacterial community in
response to drought stress
Abstract
Aims Drought is one of the most important abiotic stresses currently
threatening agricultural production. Compared to water-sensitive plant
varieties, drought-tolerant varieties have a higher adaptability to
drought. Rhizosphere bacteria, which are essential for coordinating host
plant health, are also severely affected by drought stress. The response
to drought stress of rhizosphere bacterial communities from
drought-tolerant plants has become a hot spot of current research. We
aim to explore the effect of drought stress on the root microorganisms
of sugarcane, and the response of rhizosphere microorganisms of
drought-tolerant varieties to drought stress. Methods We used pot
experiments to test the effects of drought stress on two sugarcane
varieties, ZZ9 (drought-tolerant) and GT39 (water-sensitive). Through
high-throughput sequencing of bacterial communities in the rhizosphere
and analysis of physiological and biochemical characteristics of the
rhizosphere soil, changes in the bacterial communities of ZZ9 and GT39
due to drought stress were analyzed, and the relationship between the
changes and the soil environment was studied. Conclusions Drought stress
can reduce the diversity of bacterial communities in the rhizosphere of
both plant varieties. Under drought stress, drought-tolerant varieties
can better accumulate symbiotic bacteria to cope with the stressful
conditions.