COWPEA IS ONE OF THE IMPORTANT ANNUAL LEGUMES IN THE WORLD AND HAS THE POTENTIAL TO RETURN TO FOUR MILLION ACRES OF LAND IN THE SOUTHEAST, AS BOTH A GRAIN AND COVER CROP WITH EXPORT, FORAGE AND LOCAL CONSUMPTION POTENTIAL IN THIS NEGLECTED REGION. ALUMINUM TOXICITY STRESS IS COMMON ON THE WEATHERED SOILS FOUND THROUGHOUT THE SOUTH AND CAUSES LIMITED ROOT GROWTH AND DEPTH. HOWEVER TOLERANCE TO ALUMINUM TOXICITY STRESS IS VERY UNDERSTUDIED. AT TSU WE HAVE DEVELOPED A SET OF ROOT EVALUATION TECHNIQUES TO ACCURATELY EVALUATE COWPEA ALUMINUM STRESS TOLERANCE. IN THIS PROJECT WE PLAN TO CONDUCT A GENOME WIDE ASSOCIATION WITH COWPEA GERMPLASM FROM THE USDA COLLECTION TOGETHER WITH COMMERCIAL CULTIVARS OF THE SOUTHEAST. WE ALSO EVALUATE THE GENE TRANSCRIPTS OF ROOT TIP MERISTEMS FOR 3 GENOTYPES UNDER CONTROL AND ALUMINUM TREATMENTS BY ILLUMINA SEQUENCING. THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO UNDERSTAND THE GENETICS OF THIS ALUMINUM STRESS TOLERANCE AND FIND GENES IMPORTANT TO ROOT GROWTH UNDER ALUMINUM STRESS TREATMENT.