Sugarcane is a major cash crop grown in tropical and subtropical regions, but it is known to be sensitive to cold stress. This study aimed to investigate the role of abscisic acid (ABA) signaling pathways in sugarcane cultivars ROC22 and GT-081108 under cold stress conditions. RNA sequencing data were retrieved from the NCBI SRA database, and the reads were mapped to the recently published Saccharum spontaneum genome. The unigenes were annotated using Agrigo gene enrichment analysis. The analysis revealed that, in the GT-081108 cultivar, 209 out of 5649 genes were significantly upregulated, while 79 out of 3289 genes were downregulated. In the ROC22 cultivar, 198 genes were upregulated, and 60 genes were downregulated. A significant portion of the genes identified were associated with ABA-activated signaling pathways. Gene Ontology (GO) enrichment analysis highlighted categories such as response to abscisic acid, ABA-activated signaling pathways, cellular response to ABA stimulus, ABA metabolic processes, ABA biosynthesis, regulation of ABA-activated signaling pathways, ABA binding, and (+)-ABA 8′-hydroxylase activity. These findings suggest that ABA signaling pathways play a crucial role in sugarcane’s response to cold stress, helping to modulate gene expression and initiate molecular responses to this abiotic stress.
