Mycorrhization enhances plant growth and stabilizes biomass allocation under drought

Plants and their symbionts, such as arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi, are increasingly subjected to various environmental stressors due to climate change, including drought. As a response to drought, plants generally allocate more biomass to roots over shoots, thereby facilitating water uptake. However, whether this biomass allocation shift is modulated by AM fungi remains unknown. Based on 5,691 paired observations from 154 plant species, we conducted a meta-analysis to evaluate how AM fungi modulate the responses of plant growth and biomass allocation (e.g. root-to-shoot ratio, R/S) to drought.

植物与其共生体，例如丛枝菌根（arbuscular mycorrhizal, AM）真菌，正因气候变化日益面临各类环境胁迫，干旱即为其中之一。作为对干旱的响应，植物通常会将更多生物量分配至根系而非地上部分，以此促进水分吸收。然而，丛枝菌根真菌是否会调控这一生物量分配格局的转变，目前仍不明朗。本研究基于154种植物的5691组配对观测数据，开展元分析，以评估丛枝菌根真菌如何调控植物生长及生物量分配（如根冠比，root-to-shoot ratio, R/S）对干旱的响应。