Physiochemical characterization and molecular phylogeny of drought responsive proteins in Finger Millet (Eleusine coracana L.)

Background. Millets are considered climate-resilient crops because they require minimal inputs, grow in poor soils, and tolerate abiotic stresses such as drought and high temperature. As global water availability becomes more unpredictable, drought is emerging as a major factor reducing agricultural productivity. Understanding how millet plants respond biochemically to drought conditions provides valuable insight for developing stress-resilient varieties. Drought affects plants at multiple levels physiological, biochemical, and molecular. Drought stress is a major abiotic factor limiting crop productivity worldwide. Finger millet (Eleusine coracana) is renowned for drought and salinity resilience. This study involves in -silico physiochemical characterization of drought-responsive proteins and their molecular phylogeny to understand evolutionary relationships with other cereal species. Results. Proteins associated with drought stress exhibited diverse molecular characteristics. Genotypes possessing proteins with: lower instability index (<40), higher aliphatic index, and negative GRAVY values were predicted to exhibit greater structural stability and hydrophilicity traits commonly associated with stress resilience. Some of the highly expressed proteins involved in stress tolerance in Eleusine coracana retrieved from UNIPROT (UniProt Consortium ,2025) in FASTA format are -ACL97372.1 truncated calmodulin, partial [Eleusine coracana], -ADB43602.1 prolamin, partial [Eleusine coracana], -ADC44447.1 monodehydroascorbate reductase, partial [Eleusine coracana],-AEF58885.1 NADH dehydrogenase subunit F, partial (chloroplast) [Eleusine coracana],-AEH04409.1 hydroxymethylglutaryl-CoA synthase, partial [Eleusine coracana],etc. Their physicochemical properties like stability, charge, hydrophobicity, and solubility help to determine their function adaptive for survival under stress. These proteins represent key components of stress signaling, antioxidant defense, mitochondrial energy metabolism, and nutrient transport, which collectively contribute to drought resilience. These proteins subcellular organization and gene ontology justifies their role in stress tolerance. Molecular phylogeny reveals both conserved and uniquely expanded gene families, reflecting evolutionary adaptation. Conclusion. This in silico investigation identifies and characterizes a suite of highly expressed climate-resilience proteins in E. coracana. Molecular phylogeny reveals both conserved and uniquely expanded gene families, reflecting evolutionary adaptation. These results lay the groundwork for targeted functional genomics to harness stress tolerance for finger millet improvement and translational breeding. Our findings are vital for breeding and selecting drought tolerant varieties of finger millet. Further, genomic and molecular investigations need to be undertaken to gain a deeper insight into the detailed mechanisms of drought tolerance in finger millet.