**7. Conclusion and future perspectives**

AM inoculation can offer multiple advantages to host plants in exposure to water scarcity, which could enable inoculated plants to avoid drought stress or tolerate water deficit better than nonmycorrhizal plants. Indeed, various direct and indirect AM-induced mechanisms in mycorrhizal plants could contribute to drought mitigation or tolerance. More importantly, improved crop yield and quality attribute in colonized plants under drought stress highlight the importance of AMF application in crop production as one of the promising practices under water constraints. However, variable plant responses to AMF and the discussed major challenges hinder possible fruitful outcomes of AM inoculation. Identification of the most appropriate combination of fungal inoculants and a given variety, cultivar, or accession grown under water scarcity, and understanding environmental factors deciding the positive results of the inoculation are crucial determinants for successful AMF application. Compatible combination of AMF with other beneficial microbes such as plant growth-promoting bacteria and/or *Trichoderma* offering synergistic effects on plant tolerance to stressful environments including drought stress is also a bright perspective [38, 106]. Besides that, further research is necessary to shed light on the specific functions of genes mediated by mycorrhiza, which could explore the exact AM-triggered mechanisms of plant adaptation under water deficit. Studies on quantitative trait loci (QTL) involved in mycorrhizal plant responses to drought stress are needed for breeding programs to create new cultivars with a combination of drought-tolerant traits and AM benefits.
