Figure 1.

Hypothetical role of Arbuscular Mycorrhiza Fungi (AMF) in enhancing plant water status and soil-plant hydraulic conductance. During soil drying, AMF increase the root-soil contact and extend the effective root radius hereby reducing the water fluxes at the root-soil interface and softening the drop in matric potential across the rhizosphere. The follow-up hypothesis is that AMF enhance soil-plant hydraulic conductance and plant water status during soil drying. Plants without AMF symbiosis (-AMF) require larger gradients in matric potential around their roots to sustain similar transpiration rates.