Bread wheat is one of the major staple food crops worldwide, which is increasing constantly in demand due to the earth's growing population. Besides this, in the majority of wheat growing areas worldwide, the incidence of drought stress has increased significantly resulting in a negative impact on plant development and grain yield. Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis are associations between specialized soil fungi and plants. The positive effects of arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis on plant performance under drought stress conditions by improving drought stress tolerance are widely known. Nevertheless, no extensive knowledge associated with genotypic differences in root colonization of wheat by mycorrhizal fungi and the response of wheat to mycorhizae under drought stress conditions is available. Furthermore, quantitative trait loci (QTL) involved in root colonization of wheat by mycorrhizal fungi and in the response to drought stress conditions in the presence of mycorrhizae are largely unknown. Therefore, a diverse set consisting of94 bread wheat genotypes was phenotyped under drought stress and well watered conditions in the presence and absence of mycorrhizae. Root colonization by mycorrhizal fungi, grain yield and yield components, drought stress related traits as well as response to mycorrhizae were assessed. Significant genotypic differences (pweiterlesen