Inoculation Improves Drought Resistance and Growth of Seedlings through Regulating Physiological Responses and Soil Microbial Community.

Drought stress poses a serious threat to seedling growth in southern China. species, as beneficial microorganisms, have been widely used in agriculture to enhance plant growth and drought tolerance, but the interaction mechanisms remain unclear. To investigate the effect of drought-resistant inoculation on growth under drought stress, the plant physiological indicators and rhizosphere microbiome diversity were measured to identify -activated mechanisms. inoculation significantly promoted growth under drought treatment, and enhanced nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium absorption compared with those of non-inoculated seedlings. treatment alleviated the damage to cell membranes and needle tissue structure, and significantly increased antioxidant enzyme activities, osmotic substance contents, and photosynthesis in in response to drought stress. Soil nutrient contents, activities of sucrase, phosphatase, and urease as well as the relative abundances of the dominant genera , , and were elevated in the rhizosphere soil of inoculated with under drought stress. A network analysis showed that certain crucial dominant taxa driven by inoculation, including , , , , , , , and , had more correlations with other microorganisms in the soil. enhanced seedling growth under drought stress by regulating physiological responses and soil microbial community.