Drought is a major environmental factor that limits agricultural crop productivity and threatens food security. Foxtail millet is a model crop with excellent abiotic stress tolerance and is consequently an important subject for obtaining a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying plant responses to drought and recovery. Here the physiological and proteomic responses of foxtail millet (cultivar Yugu1) leaves and roots to drought treatments and recovery were evaluated. Drought-treated foxtail millet exhibited increased relative electrolyte leakage and decreased relative water content and chlorophyll content compared to control and rewatering plants. A global analysis of protein profiles was evaluated for drought-treated and recovery treatment leaves and roots. We also identified differentially abundant proteins in drought and recovery groups, enabling comparisons between leaf and root tissue responses to the conditions. The principal component analysis suggested a clear distinction between leaf and root proteomes for the drought-treated and recovery treatment plants. Gene Ontology enrichment and co-expression analyses indicated that the biological responses of leaves differed from those in roots after drought and drought recovery. These results provide new insights and data resources to investigate the molecular basis of tissue-specific functional responses of foxtail millet during drought and recovery, thereby significantly informing crop breeding.

Drought stress poses a major challenge to global agriculture under accelerating climate change. Foxtail millet ( Setaria italica ), a C4 crop native to China, has emerged as both a coarse grain crop in arid regions and a model for studying drought adaptation. This mini review synthesizes recent advances in understanding the multi‐level drought response network of foxtail millet, encompassing root system remodeling, stomatal regulation, osmotic adjustment, and photosynthetic and metabolic reprogramming. These physiological processes are coordinated by interconnected signaling modules involving Ca² ⁺ , reactive oxygen species (ROS), and abscisic acid (ABA), and are transcriptionally fine‐tuned by transcription factors (TFs), non‐coding RNAs, and epigenetic modifications. We also emphasize the genetic and germplasm diversity underlying drought tolerance, highlighting foxtail millet’s potential as a comparative C4 model for functional genomics and climate‐resilient breeding. Despite substantial progress, critical gaps remain in understanding hormone crosstalk, root–shoot signaling, and the integration of metabolic and transcriptional responses. Future research integrating pan‐genomics, multi‐omics, and precision genome editing, combined with translational breeding aimed at enhancing yield stability under climate variability, will deepen mechanistic understanding and accelerate the improvement of drought‐resilient cereal crops.