2This study was designed to elucidate the physiological responses of three Lotus forage 1 3 accessions to alkaline stress and the influence of the inoculation of a Pantoea eucalypti 1 4 endophyte strain on its mitigation. One-month-old diploid accessions of Lotus 1 5 3 1addition, under alkaline conditions, Lc dissipated more energy than control plants. 3 2 Expression of the metal-transporting gene NRAMP1 increased in the inoculated Lc 3 3 accession under stress, while remaining unmodified in Lt and LtxLc hybrid.3 4 [ 2 ]Altogether, the results obtained make clear the importance of inoculation with P.1 eucalypti, which contributed significantly to the mitigation of alkaline stress. Thus, all 2 the results provide useful information for improving alkaline tolerance traits in Lotus 3 forage species and their interspecific hybrids. 4 5 tolerance 7 8 Abbreviations 9 NPQ, non-photochemical fluorescence quenching; PSII, photosystem II; q P , 1 0 photochemical fluorescence quenching coefficients; ROS, reactive oxygen species; 1 1 PSII , quantum efficiency of PSII in light; Lt, Lotus tenuis; Lc: Lotus corniculatus; Lt x 1 2