Drought is one of the main abiotic stress factors that cause a great yield reduction. That is why an increase of drought resistance and tolerance of cultivated crops would have a great economical importance for the agriculture worldwide. The aim of this research is to investigate from one part the possibilities of arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi detection through PCR specifi c primers and from another part the mycorrhiza eff ect on drought inducible genes expression of maize genotypes, with diff erent stress tolerance. The main objectives are: detection of mycorrhizal fungi (Glomus sp., Acaulospora sp., etc.), common in soils of Moldova, through PCR specifi c primers in the roots samples of Trifolium sp.; mycorrhizal fungi transfer on maize roots; evaluation of AM symbiosis eff ects on 2 maize genotypes and their reciprocal F1 hybrids, from Republic of Moldova, at physiological and molecular levels and transcriptional profi ling of maize drought inducible genes under AM symbiosis. Currently the work is focused on arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi detection through nested PCR in Trifolium sp. roots samples. The PCR amplifi cation comprised a fi rst round of amplifi cation with the universal fungal primer pair LR1/FLR2 and a second, nested amplifi cation with the specifi c f4/r2 primer pairs. After that will be investigated the infl uence of diff erent species of mycorrhizal fungi common in soils of Moldova, on main physiological parameters (relative water content (RWC), photosynthetic rate, water loss rate (WLR)) and maize drought inducible genes expression (dehydrins, Hsp, aquaporins, etc.) in maize plants. Physiological analyses will be performed under controlled green house conditions and drought inducible genes expression through real-time PCR technique. New scientifi c data regarding the modifi cations of gene expression as a result of maize infection with AM fungi will be obtained, which could lead to the development of new opportunities in attenuation of detrimental drought eff ects. Molecular analysis of the genes involved in drought resistance may open new possibilities in selection programs of this crop. As drought has already become a frequent phenomenon with disastrous consequences, the development of new maize growing techniques capable of diminishing drought negative eff ects will have an important economic impact on agriculture.