With the warming global climate, drought stress is considered to be the most important abiotic factor limiting plant growth and yield in the world. Drought stress has serious impacts on crop production. Many researchers have studied the influences of drought stress on crop production and plant physiology; however, few researchers have combined root exudates with root-associated microbiomes for their mutual effects under drought conditions. In this review, we systematically illustrate the impact of drought stress on root exudates and root-associated microbiomes, and then we discuss the mutual regulation of root-associated microbiomes and the host plant in helping the plant adapt to drought. Finally, we construct a framework for the mutual connections between the plant, root exudates, and the microbiome. We hope this review can provide some significant guidelines to promote the study of drought resistance in plants in association with the rhizosphere microbiota.
Keywords: drought stress; microbiomes; plant; rhizosphere; root exudates.