Effects of drought-tolerant Ea-DREB2B transgenic sugarcane on soil bacterial communities

The rhizosphere is a part of the soil area that is in direct contact with the rhizoplane (root surface) and is thus most heavily affected by root exudations. Drought is a major abiotic stress affecting plant growth and development. The expression of certain genes confers resilience to drought stress in plants, enhancing their capacity to adapt to environmental changes. The Ea-DREB2B gene cloned from the sugarcane Saccharum arundinaceum belongs to the DREB2 subgroup of the DREB gene family, which is involved in drought response regulation. However, genetic modification of plants has been suggested to induce a transformation-specific exudation pattern that may differ from that of nearly isogenic wild-type (WT) lines.