Mutualism Mediates Legume Response to Microbial Climate Legacies.

ABSTRACT: Climate change is altering both soil microbial communities and the ecological context of plant-microbe interactions. Heat, drought, and their legacies can alter soil microbiomes and potential plant symbionts, but the direct consequences of these microbial changes on plant performance and plant investment in symbiosis remain underexplored. Predicting how soil microbes modulate plant resilience to heat and drought is critical to mitigating the negative effects of climate change on ecosystems and agriculture. In this proof of concept study, we conducted growth chamber experiments to isolate the microbially mediated indirect effects of heat and drought on plant performance and symbiosis. In the first experiment, focused on drought, we found that drought and drought-treated microbes, along with

SUBMITTER: Boyle JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12513737 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature