| Summary: | The present study was designed to explore the effects of the endophyte <i>Epichloë gansuensis</i> on gene expression related to plant hormone biosynthesis and response pathways and the content of salicylic acid (SA) and jasmonic acid (JA) hormones of <i>Achnatherum inebrians</i>, under different moisture conditions. Through a pot experiment and transcriptome analysis, we found a total of 51 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) related to hormone biosynthesis and response pathways, including 12 auxin related genes, 8 cytokinin (CTK) related genes, 3 gibberellin (GA) related genes, 7 abscisic acid (ABA) related genes, 7 ethylene (ET) related genes, 12 JA related genes and 4 SA related genes. Furthermore, key genes of JA and SA biosynthesis and response pathways, such as <i>LOX2S</i>, <i>AOS</i>, <i>OPR</i>, <i>ACX</i>, <i>JMT</i>, <i>JAZ</i>, <i>PAL</i>, <i>NPR1</i>, <i>TGA</i> and <i>PR-1</i>, showed different degrees of upregulation or downregulation. Under 60% soil moisture content, the JA content of endophyte-free (EF) <i>A. inebrians</i> was significantly (<i>p</i> < 0.05) higher than that of endophyte-infected (EI) <i>A. inebrians</i>. Under 30% and 60% soil moisture content, the SA content of EF <i>A. inebrians</i> was significantly (<i>p</i> < 0.05) higher than that of EI <i>A. inebrians</i>. SA content of EI <i>A. inebrians</i> under 30% and 60% soil moisture content was significantly (<i>p</i> < 0.05) higher than that under 15% soil moisture content. With both EI and EF plants, the SA and JA levels, respectively, are very similar at 15% soil moisture content. This study has revealed that <i>E. gansuensis</i> differentially activated plant hormone synthesis and signal transduction pathways of <i>A. inebrians</i> plants under different soil moisture availability.
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