THIS PROJECT SUPPORTS THE MISSION OF THE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION BY ADDRESSING THE HATCH ACT AREA(S) OF: SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE; MOLECULAR BIOLOGY. ORGANIC AGRICULTURE IS A STEADILY GROWING INDUSTRY IN THE UNITED STATES WITH BENEFITS MEASURED BOTH IN THE TOTAL SALES OF CROPS OFF THE LAND AND IN TERMS OF HIGHER LEVELS OF BIODIVERSITY AND DECREASED RESOURCE LEACHING. HOWEVER, ORGANICALLY MANAGED FIELDS TEND TO PRODUCE LOWER CROP YIELDS THAN CONVENTIONALLY MANAGED FIELDS. THIS IS THOUGHT TO BE DUE TO ORGANICALLY MANAGED SOILS NOT BEING ABLE TO PROVIDE ENOUGH NITROGEN TO PLANTS DURING PEAK GROWING TIMES. ORGANICALLY MANAGED FIELDS RELY ON MICROBES TO TRANSFORM SOIL NITROGEN INTO PLANT USABLE FORMS, AND CONSEQUENTLY MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES IN ORGANICALLY AND CONVENTIONALLY MANAGED SOILS HAVE LONG BEEN A TOPIC OF RESEARCH. HOWEVER, SOIL VIRUSES ARE RELATIVELY UNDERSTUDIED DESPITE A GROWING BODY OF EVIDENCE THAT SUGGESTS THAT THEY HAVE A GREAT POTENTIAL TO INFLUENCE SOIL MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES AND CONSEQUENTLY PLANT AVAILABLE NITROGEN. THE WORK HERE FOCUSES ON STUDYING THESE SOIL VIRUSES AND HOW THEY MAY INFLUENCE THE ABILITY OF MICROBES TO PROVIDE PLANTS WITH USABLE SOURCES OF NITROGEN IN BOTH ORGANICALLY AND CONVENTIONALLY MANAGED AGRICULTURAL SOILS. USING HIGH THROUGHPUT SEQUENCING OF SOIL VIRUSES' GENOMES THIS PROJECT WILL GREATLY EXPAND OUR KNOWLEDGE OF HOW VIRUSES CAN INFLUENCE THE AVAILABILITY OF NITROGEN TO PLANTS. THIS PROJECT HOPES TO BETTER REVEAL HOW VIRUSES MAY BE USED OR MANIPULATED TO IMPROVE THE AVAILABILITY OF NITROGEN TO PLANTS IN ORGANICALLY MANAGED SOILS AND CONSEQUENTLY IMPROVE YIELDS OF ORGANICALLY MANAGED AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS. THIS MAY LEAD TO A MORE EXTENSIVE ADOPTION OF ORGANIC MANAGEMENT PRACTICES, PRICE REDUCTION OF THESE PRACTICES, AND IMPROVED ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH BY LIMITING THE LEACHING TO NITROGEN FERTILIZERS FROM AGRICULTURAL SITES.