2025/09/17 by Zhuandi Wu, Xin Hu, Wenzhi Wang +8 · 1 voice
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · #Plant responses to water stress #Plant Parasitism and Resistance #Plant Molecular Biology Research
paper · doi:10.1016/j.jia.2025.04.017
openalex publication_date 2025/09/17 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/23
The tiller number is a pivotal agronomic trait determining sugarcane ( Saccharum spp. hybrids) yield. Strigolactones (SLs), as plant hormones, regulate plant architecture. DWARF27 (D27), a crucial enzyme in the SL biosynthetic pathway, catalyzes a reversible isomerization reaction. ScD27.2 , the D27 homolog in sugarcane, harbors abiotic stress-responsive elements in its promoter, suggesting its significance in SL biosynthesis and stress tolerance. ScD27.2 may optimize sugarcane agronomic traits, particularly the tiller number and yield. Elucidating its mechanisms will facilitate the development of high-yielding, stress-tolerant sugarcane varieties. To study the role of D27 in sugarcane tillering, we silenced (via RNA interference (RNAi)) and overexpressed (OE) the key carotene isomerase gene ScD27.2 in sugarcane cultivar XTT22 plantlets. ScD27 .2 expression decreased, and the tiller number increased in ScD27-RNAi-2 sugarcane compared with wild-type XTT22. ScD27.2 expression increased, and the tiller number decreased in ScD27-OE-1, ScD27-OE-5, and ScD27-OE-9 lines compared with wild-type XTT22. ScD27-OE-9 showed obvious lateral bud germination, while ScD27-RNAi-2 showed decreased drought tolerance. The tiller number and plant height of transgenic sugarcane plants differed significantly under normal light and water management conditions. Under long-term drought, the height of ScD27-RNAi-2 was significantly lower than that of wild-type XTT22 and ScD27-OE-9, exhibiting a dwarf, multi-tiller phenotype. Moreover, the SLs content in ScD27-RNAi-2 decreased significantly. We speculate that ScD27.2 regulates the tiller number of sugarcanes under drought stress, and the drought-related transcription factor ScMYB44 might be involved in the response of ScD27.2 to drought stress.