POTATO, BLUEBERRY, AND ALFALFA ARE EXAMPLES OF AUTOTETRAPLOID CROPS, WHICH MEANS THEY HAVE FOUR SETS OF HOMOLOGOUS CHROMOSOMES. THIS COMPLEX GENETIC STRUCTURE MAKES MOLECULAR BREEDING MORE DIFFICULT THAN FOR MOST CROPS, WHICH ONLY HAVE TWO SETS OF HOMOLOGOUS CHROMOSOMES. SPECIALIZED SOFTWARE IS NEEDED TO ANALYZE GENETIC MARKER DATA FOR AUTOTETRAPLOIDS, AND THE CAPABILITY OF THIS SOFTWARE IS CURRENTLY LIMITED TO ANALYZING CROSS-POPULATIONS ONE AT A TIME. THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP SOFTWARE TO JOINTLY ANALYZE MULTIPLE POPULATIONS FROM A SET OF COMMON PARENTS, WHICH WILL ENHANCE THE ABILITY OF BREEDING PROGRAMS TO DEVELOP IMPROVED PLANT VARIETIES.WE WILL DEVELOP NEW SOFTWARE, CREATE TRAINING MATERIALS, AND INFORM OTHER BREEDERS AND GENETICISTS ABOUT IT THROUGH CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS AND PUBLICATIONS. ELITE POTATO POPULATIONS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN AND BLUEBERRY POPULATIONS FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA WILL BE CHARACTERIZED FOR SEVERAL ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT TRAITS, AND THE RESULTING DATASETS WILL BE ANALYZED WITH THE SOFTWARE. THIS WILL LEAD TO A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF THE GENETICS OF THESE TRAITS AND THE SELECTION OF NEW PARENTS WITH SUPERIOR BREEDING VALUES.THE ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO CREATE A VALUABLE TOOL FOR GENOMICS-ASSISTED BREEDING OF AUTOTETRAPLOID CROPS. WE HAVE SELECTED A FEW TRAITS TO FOCUS ON DURING THE PROJECT, BUT THE SOFTWARE CAN BE USED TO IMPROVE ANY TRAIT AND WILL ALLOW BREEDERS TO MORE EFFICIENTLY DEVELOP NEW VARIETIES THAT BENEFIT PRODUCERS, CONSUMERS, AND THE ENVIRONMENT. OUR FOCUS ON THE APPLICATION OF QUANTITATIVE GENETICS TO IMPROVE SELECTION METHODS ALIGNS WITH THE PRIORITIES OF PROGRAM AREA A1141 (PLANT BREEDING FOR AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION).