The crop rhizosphere plays a key role in plant performance and soil organic matter dynamics in agricultural soils. However, increasing drought frequency and severity can disrupt biogeochemical cycling at the root–soil interface and alter interactions among the soil environment, microbiome, and functional plant traits that govern plant water and nutrient uptake.

Using Zea mays L. as a model species, we assessed drought effects in the crop rhizosphere from lab to field scale.
Our results suggest that soil drought alters the quantity, allocation, and composition of plant-derived organic matter inputs to agricultural soils. These effects varied among maize cultivars and were associated with differences in functional plant traits, particularly arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis.

Overall, these findings highlight the potential of incorporating root-modified soil properties into crop breeding strategies to simultaneously target plant drought tolerance and soil functionality.

Fanziska Steiner (LGENS)

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