THINLEAF HUCKLEBERRY, WHOSE SCIENTIFIC NAME ISVACCINIUM MEMBRANACEUMDOUGLAS EX TORR., IS ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT AND IN INCREASINGLY HIGH DEMAND DUE TO THE DESIRABLE DIETARY ANTIOXIDANTS AND THE FLAVOR PROFILE OF ITS BERRIES. UNLIKE ITS CLOSE RELATIVES LIKE THE BLUEBERRY AND CRANBERRY, THINLEAF HUCKLEBERRY HAS NOT BEEN SUCCESSFULLY DOMESTICATED, DESPITE RECENT EFFORTS. BECAUSE OF THIS, THERE IS PRESSURE ON NATURALLY OCCURING POPULATIONS TO FULFILL THE DEMAND. THERE IS CONCERN, HOWEVER, THAT OVERHARVESTING IS DETRIMENTAL TO ANIMALS THAT RELY ON THE BERRIES FOR FOOD AND TO RELATIONS WITH NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES THAT HAVE HARVESTED THE BERRIES FOR GENERATIONS. ALTHOUGH THE EFFECTS OF ENVIRONMENT ON THE BERRY PROFILE OF THINLEAF HUCKLEBERRY ARE NOT WELL UNDERSTOOD, IN CLOSELY RELATED SPECIES IT IS KNOWN THAT LIGHT QUALITY AND ELEVATION CONTRIBUTE TO SECONDARY METABOLITE PRODUCTION. THESE SECONDARY METABOLITES ARE THE ANTIOXIDANTS AND FLAVONOLS, FOR EXAMPLE, THAT MAKE UP THE DESIRABLE QUALITIES OF THE BERRIES. THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW LATITUDE AND ELEVATION, OR UV INTENSITY, AFFECT THE PROFILE OF THE BERRY IN ORDER TO ASSIST IN TARGETED MANAGEMENT OF NATURAL POPULATIONS AND MEDIATE THE IMPACT OF OVERHARVESTING. RESULTS FROM THIS PROJECT MAY IMPACT ECOLOGICAL, ECONOMIC, AND SOCIAL ASPECTS OF FOREST MANAGEMENT OF THINLEAF HUCKLEBERRY.THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS MULTIDISCIPLINARY AND ADDRESSES THREE CENTRAL OBJECTIVES: 1) CONDUCT CONTROLLED TREATMENTS WITH DIFFERENT UV INTENSITIES, HARVEST THE BERRIES GROWN UNDER THE CONTROLLED CONDITIONS, ANALYZE BERRIES FOR THEIR SECONDARY METABOLITE CONTENT AND THE EXPRESSION LEVELS OF GENES INVOLVED IN SECONDARY METABOLITE PRODUCTION, AND COMPARE THESE MEASUREMENTS BETWEEN UV INTENSITY TREATMENTS, 2) HARVEST BERRIES FROM POPULATIONS AT LOW AND HIGH ELEVATIONS AT THREE DIFFERENT LATIDUES ACROSS ITS GEOGRAPHIC RANGE, ANALYZE BERRIES FOR THEIR SECONDARY METABOLITE CONTENT AND THE EXPRESSION LEVELS OF GENES INVOLVED IN SECONDARY METABOLITE PRODUCTION, AND COMPARE THESE MEASUREMENTS BETWEEN LATITUDES AND ELEVATIONS, AND 3) COLLECT LEAVES FROM THE SAME POPULATIONS AS OBJECTIVE 2, SEQUENCE THE DNA OF THESE LEAVES, USE THE DNA SEQUENCES TO CONSTRUCT AN EVOLUTIONARY TREE THAT RELATES THE POPULATIONS TO ONE ANOTHER, AND EXAMINE HOW EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF THE POPULATIONS INFLUENCES THE SECONDARY METABOLITE PRODUCTION AND GENE EXPRESSION LEVELS IN THE BERRIES. OBJECTIVE 1 OBTAINS A BASE-LINE EXPECTATION FOR WHAT THE SECONDARY METABOLITE PRODUCTION AND GENE EXPRESSION PATTERNS SHOULD LOOK LIKE AT DIFFERENT UV INTENSITIES. OBJECTIVE 2 TESTS THIS PATTERN IN THE FIELD. FINALLY, OBJECTIVE 3 TESTS WHETHER THE PATTERNS FROM OBJECTIVES 1 AND 2 HOLD WHEN TAKING INTO CONSIDERATION EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY AND ALSO TESTS WHETHER PATTERNS OF SECONDARY METABOLITE PRODUCTION AND GENE EXPRESSION CAN BE PREDICTED BY A POPULATION'S EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY. RESULTS OF THIS PROJECT MIGHT SHOW WHETHER CERTAIN LATITUDES OR ELEVATIONS, OR LINEAGES, PRODUCE MORE DESIREABLE BERRIES.THIS PROJECT COMBINES LAB AND FIELD EXPERIMENTS AND USES CUTTING-EDGE BIOINFORMATICS TOOLS AND MOLECULAR TECHNIQUES, SUCH AS METABOLOMICS, TRANSCRIPTOMICS, AND PHYLOGEOGRAPHY, TO ADDRESS THESE OBJECTIVES. DATA FROM THIS PROJECT WILL BE MADE PUBLICLY AVAILABLE AND RESULTS WILL BE SHARED IN PEER-REVIEWED SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND AT NATIONAL CONFERENCES.