CARROTS ARE AMONG THE 10 MOST-PRODUCED VEGETABLES AND THE LARGEST SOURCE OF VITAMIN A IN THE US DIET. IMPROVED YIELD AND QUALITY HAVE BEEN ACHIEVED, BUT CARROT PRODUCTION IS LIMITED BY SLOW AND TIME-INCONSISTENT GERMINATION, WITH SEEDLING EMERGENCE VARYING BETWEEN 10-21 DAYS FOR A SINGLE CULTIVAR. THIS IS SIGNIFICANT BECAUSE A STRONG SEEDLING ESTABLISHMENT CAN HELP REDUCE THE IMPACT OF EARLY STRESSORS LIKE WEEDS, PATHOGENS, OR SALT STRESS. PREVIOUS STUDIES HAVE FOUND THAT STRONG GERMINATION MAY BE ASSOCIATED WITH LARGER SEED SIZE. USEFUL GENETIC VARIATION FOR ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT TRAITS EXISTS IN THE USDA CARROT GERMPLASM COLLECTION (AMES, IA). IN THIS PROJECT CARROT ACCESSIONS FROM THE USDA, CARROT GERMPLASM COLLECTION WILL BE ASSAYED TO IDENTIFY USEFUL VARIATION IN SEED SIZE AND GERMINATION FOR BOTH NON-STRESSED AND SALT-STRESSED TREATMENTS. IN ADDITION, I WILL TEST FOR A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN SEED SIZE AND GERMINATION. THE PHENOTYPIC DATA WILL BE USED TO MAP CARROT GENES ASSOCIATED WITH SEED SIZE AND GERMINATION USING GENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION ANALYSIS. THESE RESULTS CAN BE USEFUL TO CARROT BREEDERS BY IDENTIFYING USDA CARROT ACCESSIONS TO USE TO ENHANCE THEIR BREEDING PROGRAMS AND PROVIDE GENETIC MARKERS FOR MOLECULAR BREEDING.