{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]],"date-time":"2026-09-14T11:02:36Z","timestamp":1789383756262,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"18","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]],"date-time":"2026-09-14T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1789344000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100012166","name":"National Key Research and Development Program of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2023YFD1200705-3"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2023YFD1200705-3"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100012166","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Yunnan Province Xingdian Talent Technical Support Program Project","award":["XDYC-YLXZ-2022-0038"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["XDYC-YLXZ-2022-0038"]}]},{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100001809","name":"National Natural Science Foundation of China","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["32572474"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32572474"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100001809","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["32572474"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["32572474"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/01h0zpd94","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"name":"Innovation Fund of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University","award":["KFB23184A"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["KFB23184A"]}]},{"name":"Innovation Fund of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University","award":["KHF240002"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["KHF240002"]}]},{"name":"Innovation Fund of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University","award":["KFB23186A"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["KFB23186A"]}]},{"award":["KFB23184A"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["KFB23184A"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04kx2sy84","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["KHF240002"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["KHF240002"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04kx2sy84","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]},{"award":["KFB23186A"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["KFB23186A"]}],"id":[{"id":"https:\/\/ror.org\/04kx2sy84","id-type":"ROR","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Plants"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Drought is a major abiotic constraint on sugarcane production, but systematic multitrait evaluation of drought tolerance remains limited in genetically complex advanced backcross progenies derived from sugarcane \u00d7 Tripidium arundinaceum. In this study, 100 genotypes, including 93 BC4F1 or BC5F1 progenies and seven parental or control genotypes, were evaluated under a 20 d progressive drought treatment in pots at the seven-leaf stage. Sixteen traits related to root architecture, leaf water status, gas exchange, PSII photochemistry, antioxidant activity, and lipid peroxidation were measured. Drought significantly reduced TRL, RSA, RV, RWC, Pn, Gs, Tr, \u03a6PSII, and ETR and significantly increased SOD activity and MDA content. Twelve traits with relatively clear and biologically interpretable relationships with drought tolerance were integrated using membership functions and trait weights to calculate an integrated D value. D values ranged from 0.078 to 0.516, and 19, 45, and 36 genotypes were classified into groups with relatively high, moderate, and low drought tolerance within this germplasm collection, respectively. Genotypes 55-109, YCE07-65, 55-43, 211-172, and 91-74 had the highest integrated D values. Within the integrated evaluation framework, higher D values were most strongly associated with RSA, RV, TRL, Pn, \u03a6PSII, and ETR, while PC1 was strongly correlated with the D value (r = 0.893). Maintenance of root growth and photosynthetic function therefore represented major phenotypic features associated with overall drought tolerance under the present experimental conditions. These features may provide useful criteria for screening drought-tolerant germplasm, but their utility requires validation in independent drought experiments and field environments.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/plants15182813","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]],"date-time":"2026-09-14T09:34:01Z","timestamp":1789378441000},"page":"2813","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Multitrait Evaluation of Drought Tolerance at the Seedling Stage in Advanced Backcross Germplasm Derived from Sugarcane \u00d7 Tripidium arundinaceum"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0003-4063-717X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jiarui","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"National Engineering Research Center for Sugarcane, Key Laboratory of Sugarcane Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yu","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Engineering Research Center for Sugarcane, Key Laboratory of Sugarcane Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yan","family":"Ye","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Engineering Research Center for Sugarcane, Key Laboratory of Sugarcane Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Bo","family":"Yu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Engineering Research Center for Sugarcane, Key Laboratory of Sugarcane Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chunxia","family":"Cheng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Engineering Research Center for Sugarcane, Key Laboratory of Sugarcane Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Yiting","family":"Liao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Engineering Research Center for Sugarcane, Key Laboratory of Sugarcane Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Chaohua","family":"Huang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Engineering Research Center for Sugarcane, Key Laboratory of Sugarcane Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jiayun","family":"Wu","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Nanfan & Seed Industry, Guangdong Academy of Science, Guangzhou 510316, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Xinwang","family":"Zhao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Engineering Research Center for Sugarcane, Key Laboratory of Sugarcane Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Zuhu","family":"Deng","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"National Engineering Research Center for Sugarcane, Key Laboratory of Sugarcane Biology and Genetic Breeding, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University, Fuzhou 350002, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","unstructured":"Wang, T., Zhang, Q., Xu, Q., Zhao, H., Li, Z., and Zhang, J. (J. Integr. Plant Biol., 2026). Recent advances in the genomics of sugarcane (Saccharum), J. Integr. Plant Biol., ahead of printing."},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"885","DOI":"10.1038\/s41588-022-01084-1","article-title":"Genomic insights into the recent chromosome reduction of autopolyploid sugarcane Saccharum spontaneum","volume":"54","author":"Zhang","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nat. Genet."},{"key":"ref_3","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"242","DOI":"10.1038\/s41588-024-02033-w","article-title":"The highly allo-autopolyploid modern sugarcane genome and very recent allopolyploidization in Saccharum","volume":"57","author":"Zhang","year":"2025","journal-title":"Nat. Genet."},{"key":"ref_4","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"6023","DOI":"10.1093\/jxb\/ers251","article-title":"Sugarcane for water-limited environments. Genetic variation in cane yield and sugar content in response to water stress","volume":"63","author":"Basnayake","year":"2012","journal-title":"J. Exp. Bot."},{"key":"ref_5","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"211","DOI":"10.1038\/s43017-023-00514-w","article-title":"Crop traits and production under drought","volume":"5","author":"Vadez","year":"2024","journal-title":"Nat. Rev. Earth Environ."},{"key":"ref_6","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"744","DOI":"10.1038\/s41561-018-0212-7","article-title":"Increased water-use efficiency and reduced CO2 uptake by plants during droughts at a continental scale","volume":"11","author":"Peters","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nat. Geosci."},{"key":"ref_7","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"516","DOI":"10.1126\/science.1251423","article-title":"Greater sensitivity to drought accompanies maize yield increase in the U.S. Midwest","volume":"344","author":"Lobell","year":"2014","journal-title":"Science"},{"key":"ref_8","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"744","DOI":"10.1038\/s41477-020-0684-5","article-title":"Root architecture and hydraulics converge for acclimation to changing water availability","volume":"6","author":"Maurel","year":"2020","journal-title":"Nat. Plants"},{"key":"ref_9","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1304","DOI":"10.1038\/s41477-022-01244-5","article-title":"Towards a unified theory of plant photosynthesis and hydraulics","volume":"8","author":"Joshi","year":"2022","journal-title":"Nat. Plants"},{"key":"ref_10","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3945","DOI":"10.1093\/jxb\/erv194","article-title":"Sugarcane for water-limited environments. Variation in stomatal conductance and its genetic correlation with crop productivity","volume":"66","author":"Basnayake","year":"2015","journal-title":"J. Exp. Bot."},{"key":"ref_11","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"143","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fcr.2017.08.004","article-title":"Genetic variation in sugarcane for leaf functional traits and relationships with cane yield, in environments with varying water stress","volume":"213","author":"Zhao","year":"2017","journal-title":"Field Crops Res."},{"key":"ref_12","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"9153","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-022-13158-5","article-title":"Leaf transcriptome profiling of contrasting sugarcane genotypes for drought tolerance under field conditions","volume":"12","author":"Contiliani","year":"2022","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_13","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"5326","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-026-72169-2","article-title":"Conserved and divergent gene regulatory networks for crop drought resistance","volume":"17","author":"Deng","year":"2026","journal-title":"Nat. Commun."},{"key":"ref_14","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"195","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fcr.2012.09.008","article-title":"Evaluation of 14 morphological, yield-related and physiological traits as indicators of drought tolerance in Chinese winter bread wheat revealed by analysis of the membership function value of drought tolerance (MFVD)","volume":"137","author":"Chen","year":"2012","journal-title":"Field Crops Res."},{"key":"ref_15","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"91","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fcr.2017.05.028","article-title":"Drought resistance of new synthetic hexaploid wheat accessions evaluated by multiple traits and antioxidant enzyme activity","volume":"210","author":"Song","year":"2017","journal-title":"Field Crops Res."},{"key":"ref_16","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"103","DOI":"10.1016\/j.fcr.2015.04.016","article-title":"Drought resistance of wheat alien chromosome addition lines evaluated by membership function value based on multiple traits and drought resistance index of grain yield","volume":"179","author":"Liu","year":"2015","journal-title":"Field Crops Res."},{"key":"ref_17","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"37","DOI":"10.1007\/s10681-023-03167-4","article-title":"Evaluation of drought tolerance in sugarcane genotypes using the membership function value of drought tolerance (MFVD)","volume":"219","author":"Xu","year":"2023","journal-title":"Euphytica"},{"key":"ref_18","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"207","DOI":"10.1007\/s10681-019-2513-3","article-title":"Drought tolerance evaluation of intergeneric hybrids of BC3f1 lines of Saccharum officinarum\u2009\u00d7Erianthus arundinaceus","volume":"215","author":"Deng","year":"2019","journal-title":"Euphytica"},{"key":"ref_19","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"16022","DOI":"10.1038\/nplants.2016.22","article-title":"Global conservation priorities for crop wild relatives","volume":"2","author":"Khoury","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nat. Plants"},{"key":"ref_20","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"649","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-018-02867-z","article-title":"Ecology and genomics of an important crop wild relative as a prelude to agricultural innovation","volume":"9","author":"Chang","year":"2018","journal-title":"Nat. Commun."},{"key":"ref_21","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1748","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-018-38316-6","article-title":"Cytogenetic and agronomic characterization of intergeneric hybrids between Saccharum spp. Hybrid and Erianthus arundinaceus","volume":"9","author":"Pachakkil","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_22","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1531","DOI":"10.1002\/csc2.20697","article-title":"Genetic variation in agronomic traits of Erianthus germplasm under multiple-ratoon crops in Thailand","volume":"62","author":"Terajima","year":"2022","journal-title":"Crop Sci."},{"key":"ref_23","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1012","DOI":"10.1111\/gcbb.12600","article-title":"Sweetcane (Erianthus arundinaceus) as a native bioenergy crop with environmental remediation potential in Southern china: A review","volume":"11","author":"Wang","year":"2019","journal-title":"Glob. Change Biol. Bioenergy"},{"key":"ref_24","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"331","DOI":"10.1139\/G10-010","article-title":"GISH characterization of Erianthus arundinaceus chromosomes in three generations of sugarcane intergeneric hybrids","volume":"53","author":"Piperidis","year":"2010","journal-title":"Genome"},{"key":"ref_25","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wu, J., Huang, Y., Lin, Y., Fu, C., Liu, S., Deng, Z., Li, Q., Huang, Z., Chen, R., and Zhang, M. (2014). Unexpected inheritance pattern of Erianthus arundinaceus chromosomes in the intergeneric progeny between Saccharum spp. and Erianthus arundinaceus. PLoS ONE, 9.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0110390"},{"key":"ref_26","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Huang, Y., Wu, J., Wang, P., Lin, Y., Fu, C., Deng, Z., Wang, Q., Li, Q., Chen, R., and Zhang, M. (2015). Characterization of chromosome inheritance of the intergeneric BC2 and BC3 progeny between Saccharum spp. and Erianthus arundinaceus. PLoS ONE, 10.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0133722"},{"key":"ref_27","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"2528","DOI":"10.1038\/s41598-019-38710-8","article-title":"Chromosome transmission in BC4 progenies of intergeneric hybrids between Saccharum spp. and Erianthus arundinaceus (Retz.) Jeswiet","volume":"9","author":"Yang","year":"2019","journal-title":"Sci. Rep."},{"key":"ref_28","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Takaragawa, H., Terajima, Y., and Okamoto, K. (2025). Improvement in the intrinsic water use efficiency of sugarcane by intergeneric hybridization with Erianthus arundinaceus. Front. Plant Sci., 16.","DOI":"10.3389\/fpls.2025.1649112"},{"key":"ref_29","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Ramanathan, V., Pradhan, A.K., Gandham, P., Chinnaswamy, A., Mahadeva Swamy, H.K., Mohanraj, K., Rahamathulla, R., and Baisakh, N. (2025). Identification of new genetic resources for drought tolerance-related traits from the world Erianthus germplasm collection. Front. Plant Sci., 16.","DOI":"10.3389\/fpls.2025.1684712"},{"key":"ref_30","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"8348","DOI":"10.1038\/s41467-026-74742-1","article-title":"Haplotype-resolved genome assembly sheds light on the evolutionary history of autohexaploid Tripidium arundinaceum","volume":"17","author":"Li","year":"2026","journal-title":"Nat. Commun."},{"key":"ref_31","first-page":"1298","article-title":"Effects of drought and recovery from drought stress on above ground and root growth, and water use efficiency in sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum L.)","volume":"6","author":"Jangpromma","year":"2012","journal-title":"Aust. J. Crop Sci."},{"key":"ref_32","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Zhang, Y.B., Yang, S.L., Dao, J.M., Deng, J., Shahzad, A.N., Fan, X., Li, R.D., Quan, Y.J., Bukhari, S.A.H., and Zeng, Z.H. (2020). Drought-induced alterations in photosynthetic, ultrastructural and biochemical traits of contrasting sugarcane genotypes. PLoS ONE, 15.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0235845"},{"key":"ref_33","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"669","DOI":"10.1093\/jxb\/erz221","article-title":"Biomarkers for grain yield stability in rice under drought stress","volume":"71","author":"Melandri","year":"2020","journal-title":"J. Exp. Bot."},{"key":"ref_34","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Moloi, S.J., Alqarni, A.O., Brown, A.P., Goche, T., Shargie, N.G., Moloi, M.J., Gokul, A., Chivasa, S., and Ngara, R. (2024). Comparative physiological, biochemical, and leaf proteome responses of contrasting wheat varieties to drought stress. Plants, 13.","DOI":"10.3390\/plants13192797"},{"key":"ref_35","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Wang, M., Ahmad, I., Qin, B., Chen, L., Bu, W., Zhu, G., and Zhou, G. (2025). Identification and comprehensive evaluation of drought tolerance in sorghum during germination and seedling stages. Plants, 14.","DOI":"10.3390\/plants14121793"},{"key":"ref_36","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"860","DOI":"10.1007\/s12355-025-01533-1","article-title":"Identification of drought tolerance indicators in interspecific hybrid derivatives of Saccharum spp. using membership function value of drought tolerance (MFVD)","volume":"27","author":"Alarmelu","year":"2025","journal-title":"Sugar Tech"},{"key":"ref_37","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"179","DOI":"10.1104\/pp.111.1.179","article-title":"Dynamics of changing intercellular CO2 concentration (ci) during drought and determination of minimum functional ci","volume":"111","author":"Brodribb","year":"1996","journal-title":"Plant Physiol."},{"key":"ref_38","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"3235","DOI":"10.1093\/jxb\/err056","article-title":"Impairment of c4 photosynthesis by drought is exacerbated by limiting nitrogen and ameliorated by elevated [CO2] in maize","volume":"62","author":"Markelz","year":"2011","journal-title":"J. Exp. Bot."},{"key":"ref_39","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Canales, F.J., Nagel, K.A., M\u00fcller, C., Rispail, N., and Prats, E. (2019). Deciphering root architectural traits involved to cope with water deficit in oat. Front. Plant Sci., 10.","DOI":"10.3389\/fpls.2019.01558"},{"key":"ref_40","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"347","DOI":"10.1270\/jsbbs.61.347","article-title":"Applicability of Aegilops tauschii drought tolerance traits to breeding of hexaploid wheat","volume":"61","author":"Sohail","year":"2011","journal-title":"Breed. Sci."},{"key":"ref_41","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Honsdorf, N., March, T.J., and Pillen, K. (2017). QTL controlling grain filling under terminal drought stress in a set of wild barley introgression lines. PLoS ONE, 12.","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0185983"},{"key":"ref_42","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Li, P., Lin, P., Zhao, Z., Li, Z., Liu, Y., Huang, C., Huang, G., Xu, L., Deng, Z., and Zhang, Y. (2022). Gene co-expression analysis reveals transcriptome divergence between wild and cultivated sugarcane under drought stress. Int. J. Mol. Sci., 23.","DOI":"10.3390\/ijms23010569"},{"key":"ref_43","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"110247","DOI":"10.1016\/j.plaphy.2025.110247","article-title":"The sugarcane ScMYB3r1-ScPYL61-ScPP2c57 module confers drought tolerance via ABA signaling","volume":"228","author":"Luo","year":"2025","journal-title":"Plant Physiol. Biochem."}],"container-title":["Plants"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2223-7747\/15\/18\/2813\/pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]],"date-time":"2026-09-14T10:06:25Z","timestamp":1789380385000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/2223-7747\/15\/18\/2813"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]]},"references-count":43,"journal-issue":{"issue":"18","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9]]}},"alternative-id":["plants15182813"],"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/plants15182813","relation":{},"ISSN":["2223-7747"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2223-7747","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,14]]}}}