Effects of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi on the biomass production of Trifolium pratense

Drought events are becoming more frequent and severe due to changes on precipitation abundance and distribution caused by climate change, ultimately increasing land degradation. Agricultural plants as well as microbial communities in soil are expected to be equally affected. The symbiotic association of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) and rhizobia with a wide range of Fabaceae confers to the host plant greater tolerance to both abiotic and biotic stress factors, as well as provision of essential nutrients, but the extent of their involvement remains unclear. In this study, we wanted to test the effects of the root microbiome, specifically of those symbiotic associations where AMF and rhizobia are involved, on the tolerance of an important forage plant (Trifolium pratense) to drought in the form of host biomass production.