Luke Bainard

1 INTRODUCTION Most plants interact with soil microbes, with interaction outcomes ranging from mutualism to antagonism (Bever et al., 2012). These interactions not only affect the growth of that plant but can also cause shifts in the soil microbiome that persist and affect the recruitment of new individuals into those soils (Bever et al., 2010).

Abstract Microorganisms can improve plant resistance to drought through various mechanisms such as the production of plant hormones, osmolytes, antioxidants, and exopolysaccharides. It is, however, unclear how previous exposure to water stress affects the functional capacity of the soil microbial community to help plants resist drought. We compared two soils that had either a continuous or intermittent water stress history for almost forty years.