PLANTS HAVE EVOLVED FOR HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF YEARS IN CLOSE ASSOCIATION WITH MICROBIAL PARTNERS. MICROBES COVER EVERY PLANT SURFACE AND IMPACT ALL ASPECTS OF PLANT PHYSIOLOGY AND HEALTH. YET, OUR CURRENT CROP PRODUCTION SYSTEMS TREAT THEM PRIMARILY AS A BLACK BOX. AS NEW TECHNOLOGIES HAVE ENABLED RAPID CHARACTERIZATION OF PLANT MICROBIOMES, WE ARE POISED FOR TRANSFORMATIVE ADVANCES IN AGRICULTURE THAT WILL USE MICROBIOME MANAGEMENT TO INCREASE THE SUSTAINABLE PRODUCTION OF HEALTHY FOOD. TO ACHIEVE THIS VISION, WE FIRST NEED DATA CHARACTERIZING MICROBIOMES ON A VARIETY OF PLANT SPECIES AND ON DIFFERENT PLANT PARTS. IN PARTICULAR, WE KNOW LITTLE ABOUT THE MICROBIOMES ASSOCIATED WITH EDIBLE PLANT PARTS, SUCH AS FRUITS. FRUIT MICROBIOMES ARE LIKELY QUITE DISTINCT FROM THOSE ON LEAVES, AND HAVE THE POTENTIAL TO IMPACT NOT ONLY YIELD, BUT THE QUALITY OF THE FOOD WE ACTUALLY CONSUME. OUR PROJECT WILL PROVIDE THE MOST EXTENSIVE CHARACTERIZATION TO DATE OF THE APPLE FRUIT MICROBIOME, WITH A LONG-TERM GOAL OF ESTABLISHING APPLES AS A MODEL SYSTEM IN CROP MICROBIOME RESEARCH. WE WILL WORK WITH COMMERCIAL GROWERS IN THE EASTERN US AND ESTABLISH AN EXPERIMENTAL ORCHARD IN VIRGINIA TO EXAMINE HOW: 1) ORGANIC AND CONVENTIONAL PEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES SHAPE MICROBE COMMUNITIES SURROUNDING FRUITS, 2) MICROBE COMMUNITIES, IN TURN, AFFECT FRUIT QUALITY TRAITS THAT DETERMINE MARKET AND NUTRITIONAL VALUE AND, 3) MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES AND FRUIT QUALITY TRAITS AFFECT HARD CIDER PRODUCTION, CURRENTLY THE FASTEST GROWING SEGMENT OF THE AMERICAN BEVERAGE INDUSTRY. OUR MULTI-DISCIPLINARY TEAM WILL BRING TOGETHER EXPERTISE IN PLANT INTERACTIONS AND CHEMICAL ECOLOGY (PD WHITEHEAD), MICROBIAL ECOLOGY AND BIOINFORMATICS (CO-PD KNIGHT), AND FOOD SCIENCE AND CIDER PRODUCTION (CO-PD STEWART). CONSIDERING THE ECONOMIC VALUE OF APPLES AND THEIR ICONIC IMAGE AS BOTH HEALTH-PROMOTING FRUITS AND SYMBOLS OF AMERICAN CULTURE, OUR RESEARCH PROGRAM CAN SIMULTANEOUSLY IMPROVE OUR FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION SYSTEMS, PROVIDE NEW DIRECTION FOR APPLIED TECHNOLOGY IN MICROBIOME MANAGEMENT, AND ENGAGE STUDENTS AND THE GENERAL PUBLIC IN THE IMPORTANCE OF ECOLOGICAL INTERACTIONS IN SHAPING OUR FOOD SYSTEMS.