Pea (Pisum sativum), like other legumes, has the unique ability to fix atmospheric dinitrogen (N2) via symbiosis with soil bacteria known as rhizobia in root nodules. This particular feature makes the pea crop an essential component of sustainable cropping systems because of the reduction of nitrogen fertilizers it affords. However symbiotic nitrogen fixation (SNF) is very susceptible to abiotic stresses and particularly to water deficit, which is becoming an increasingly common threat in the current context of climate change. Water deficit impacts negatively SNF (Prudent et al., 2016), affecting both nodule number and growth (i.e. structural components of SNF) and their N-fixing efficiency (i.e. fonctional component of SNF). Such negative effects can even remain when optimal water conditions are restored. Although the ability of a plant to recover after a water deficit period may determine both its survival and its yield at harvest, the mechanisms occurring during the rewatering phase in terms of nitrogen nutrition and growth recovery remain poorly addressed. The aim of this study was to evaluate the capacity of pea genotypes to recover after a water deficit and assess which processes, whether structural or functional, underlie this recovery. Two pea genotypes, Kayanne and Puget, were selected based on their contrasted nodulated root system architecture and their ability to recover after a water deficit period. Plants were cultivated in 4PMI2 (Dijon – France) and subjected to a two-week water deficit period during the vegetative stage, followed by an optimal rewatering until physiological maturity. During the water deficit period and the two first weeks of re-watering, a sampling time-series was performed. Physiological mechanisms potentially involved in plant stress tolerance and in its recovery were analysed by using a structure-function based ecophysiological framework. This analysis was complemented by a study of the carbon and nitrogen fluxes within the soil-plant-atmosphere continuum. Both genotypes responded similarly during the water deficit period. Plant growth was negatively affected, and among plant compartments, nodule growth was particularly impacted resulting in a decrease of the nodule biomass over nodulated root biomass ratio and leading to a reduction of plant nitrogen nutrition. Conversely the two pea genotypes displayed contrasted recovery strategies during the re-watering period. Kayanne increased carbon allocation to the nodule compartment allowing a restoration of the nodule biomass over nodulated root biomass ratio. Puget also favored nodules for carbon allocation but at the expense of the roots leading to an overcompensation of the nodule biomass over nodulated root biomass ratio compared to the control. Differences in the kinetics of nitrogen acquisition recovery were also observed, with Kayanne initiating a nitrogen uptake recovery earlier than Puget during rewatering. Interestingly, Puget’s yield but not Kayanne’s was significantly reduced in response to water deficit suggesting that Kayanne’s strategy during rewatering after a water deficit could be more efficient. Perspectives of this work are to use transcriptomics and metabolomics to identify key genes and metabolic pathways underlying these contrasted recovery strategies. This study will generate key knowledges allowing us to contribute to designing pea ideotypes which are better adapted to fluctuating water constraints.