ACCORDING TO THE UNITED NATIONS FOOD AND AGRICULTURE ORGANIZATION REPORT IN 2015 THE WORLD'S POPULATION IS SETTO GROW FROM 7.3 BILLION TO 9.7 BILLION BY 2050. THIS 32% GROWTH IN POPULATION IN THE NEXT 35 YEARS IS EXPECTED TO REQUIRE 70% INCREASE OF OUR PRESENT AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY. ALTHOUGH THIS ENHANCEMENT IN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTIVITY SEEMS CHALLENGING, IT IS DEFINITELY ACHIEVABLE PROVIDED SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES LIKE CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE ARE FOLLOWED. BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES OF SOIL MICROORGANISMS ARE THE DRIVING FORCES OF CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE. APART FROM RELYING ON SOIL MICROBES, PLANTS HARBOR MICROORGANISMS INSIDE AND ON PLANT SURFACES SIMILAR TO HUMAN OR ANIMAL MICROFLORA,WHICH PLAY PIVOTAL ROLE IN PLANT PRODUCTIVITY AND HEALTH. RECENT RESEARCH SUGGESTS THAT SOIL MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES DIRECTLY INFLUENCE PLANT MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES. SINCE AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES IN GENERAL HAVE PROFOUND IMPACT ON SOIL AND ITS LIVING ORGANISMS, SUSTAINABLE PRACTICES LIKE CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE ARE ALSO EXPECTED TO INFLUENCE THE SOIL MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES AND THROUGH THEM, LIKELY TO INFLUENCE THE PLANT MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES. IF SUSTAINABLE CROP PRODUCTION LIKE CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE IS TO ENHANCE CROP PRODUCTIVITY BY 2050, IT IS IMPORTANT TO INVESTIGATE HOW MANAGEMENT PRACTICES UNDER CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE IMPACT SOIL AND PLANT MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES AND THEIR BIOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES. ACCORDINGLY, THIS STUDY WILL HELP INVESTIGATE THE IMPACT OF PLANTING DENSITIES UNDER CONSERVATION AGRICULTURE ON SOIL AND PLANT MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES, HOW THEY CHANGE OVER TIME AND WHAT THEIR FUNCTIONS ARE. FOUR SWITCHGRASS VARIETIES CULTIVATED FOR SOIL CONSERVATION UNDER HIGH DENSITY AND LOW DENSITY PLANTING WILL BE USED TO OBTAIN A SNAPSHOT OF 'MICROBIAL INHABITANTS' AND 'THEIR FUNCTIONS' BY NEXT GENERATION SEQUENCING AND METAPROTEOMICS RESPECTIVELY. SPECIFICALLY, WE WILL STUDY I) THE SOIL AND LEAF MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES AND THEIR CHANGES OVER THE FIRST NINE-WEEKS SINCE LEAF EMERGENCE, NEXT II) WE WILL INFER IF THE LEAF MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES ARE DERIVED FROM SOIL COMMUNITIES, NEXT III) WE WILL STUDY THE METAPROTEOMES OF LEAF MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES UNDER TWO PLANTING DENSITIES TO INFER THEIR ECOLOGICAL FUNCTIONS, AND FINALLY IV) WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE IMPACT OF BIOMASS QUALITY OR QUANTITY ON METAPROTEOMES. THE DATA FROM THIS STUDY WILL BE PERTINENT TO U.S. SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE SINCE THIS STUDY STEMS FROM CLASS I SOIL WHICH IS VASTLY PREVALENT IN THE U.S. THIS PROJECT IS EXPECTED TO PROVIDE INSIGHTS INTO THE FUTURE AGRICULTURE MANAGEMENT WHEREIN MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES AND THEIR FUNCTIONS CAN BE INCORPORATED AS A MANAGEMENT TOOL TO FURTHER OPTIMIZE SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE PRODUCTION SYSTEMS.