AS THE SECOND MOST CONSUMED VEGETABLE IN THE UNITED STATES, THE TOMATO CROP IS CENTRAL TO NATIONAL FOOD PRODUCTION AND FOOD SECURITY. WHILE TOMATO YIELDS PER HECTARE HAVE STEADILY INCREASED OVER THE LAST THREE DECADES AS MODERNIZED BREEDING PRACTICES HAVE ADVANCED, IT IS BECOMING OBVIOUS THAT THIS POSITIVE TRAJECTORY IS THREATENED BY CLIMATE CHANGE (NAMELY IN THE FORM OF RISING TEMPERATURES AND INCREASED DROUGHT SEVERITY). FOR EXAMPLE, CALIFORNIA, THE LARGEST GLOBAL PRODUCER OF PROCESSING TOMATOES, HAS EXPERIENCED RECENT AND SHARP HARVEST DECLINES ATTRIBUTABLE TO UNPREDICTABLE DROUGHT AND TEMPERATURE CONDITIONS. THIS PROJECT PROPOSES TO TAKE AN APPROACH TO CROP BREEDING THAT LEVERAGES EXISTING NATURAL DIVERSITY IN THE WILD TO IMPROVE PRODUCTIVITY IN THE DOMESTICATED TOMATO.TOMATO, LIKE OTHER CROPS, WAS DOMESTICATED BY HUMANS NEAR THE ANDES MOUNTAINS IN SOUTH AMERICA. THE LARGE TOMATOES WE BUY AT THE SUPERMARKET TODAY ARE THE RESULT OF ARTIFICIAL BREEDING OVER CENTURIES. DURING THIS PERIOD, OTHER CLOSELY RELATED "WILD" TOMATO SPECIES PERSISTED IN THIS REGION LARGELY FREE FROM HUMAN INFLUENCE AND AS A RESULT HAVE RETAINED MANY OF THE TRAITS THAT HAVE BEEN LOST DURING THE DOMESTICATION PROCESS (E.G., TOLERANCE TO DROUGHT AND/OR HIGH TEMPERATURES). BY STUDYING WILD RELATIVES OF TOMATO WHICH EXHIBIT THESE TRAITS WE CAN DISSECT THE GENETIC BASIS OF SUCH TRAITS AND EVENTUALLY REINCORPORATE THEM INTO DOMESTICATED BREEDING LINES. AS FIRST STEP TOWARDS THIS GOAL, WE WILL TAKE A LARGE-SCALE POPULATION GENOMIC APPROACH BY SEQUENCING THE GENOMES OF A LARGE NUMBER OF WILD POPULATIONS FROM A DIVERSE ARRAY OF HABITATS (COASTAL, INLAND, HIGHLAND, ETC.). WE WILL THEN USE THESE DATA ALONG WITH ADVANCED COMPUTATIONAL AND STATISTICAL METHODS TO IDENTIFY THE GENES ALLOWING FOR SURVIVAL IN THESE HABITATS. THIS APPROACH HAS, UNTIL VERY RECENTLY, BEEN PROHIBITIVELY EXPENSIVE DUE TO THE HIGH COSTS OF WHOLE GENOME SEQUENCING. THIS PROJECT REPRESENTS ONE OF THE LARGEST STUDIES AIMED AT LEVERAGING NATURAL VARIATION IN COMPLEX PLANT TRAITS FOR BREEDING PURPOSES.