** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** CLIMATE CHANGE INDUCES EXTREME ABIOTIC STRESSES SUCH AS DROUGHT AND SALINITY, WHICH ARE DETRIMENTAL TO AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION. PLANTS NATIVE TO DROUGHT AND SALINITY STRESS-AFFECTED REGIONS CAN THRIVE IN THOSE CONDITIONS DUE TO THE INTERACTIONS WITH THEIR RHIZOSPHERE, A RICH HABITAT OF VARIOUS MICROBES THAT DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY AFFECT PLANT GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT. THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST REGION IN THE US IS RICH IN DROUGHT-TOLERANT NATIVE PLANTS AND RECOMMENDED FOR LOW-WATER LANDSCAPE PLANTS. NATIVE PLANTS IN THIS REGION HAVE FORMED SYMBIOTIC RELATIONSHIPS WITH NATIVE WILDLIFE OVER THOUSANDS OF YEARS AND OFFER THE MOST SUSTAINABLE HABITAT. ALTHOUGH MANY PLANT GROWTH-PROMOTING BACTERIA (PGPB) ISOLATED FROM PLANT RHIZOSPHERES ARE USED AS SUCCESSFUL BIOFERTILIZERS, NATIVE PLANTS HAVE NOT BEEN EXPLORED FOR THEIR MICROBIOME. ONE WAY TO MEET THE INCREASING FOOD DEMAND DUE TO THE ESCALATING WORLD POPULATION IS BY EXPLORING THE MICROBIOME OF NATIVE PLANTS THAT HELPS THEM ESTABLISH AND SURVIVE IN THEIR HABITAT. THE PROPOSED PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE THE MICROBIOME OF TWO NATIVE PLANTS,CEANOTHUS VELUTINUS(SNOWBRUSH),CERCOCARPUS LEDIFOLIUS(MOUNTAIN MAHOGANY), OF THE INTERMOUNTAIN WEST REGION OF THE US, AND PLANTS FROM THE GREAT SALT LAKE. THE STUDY WILL THEN ISOLATE, PURIFY, CHARACTERIZE THE RHIZOSPHERE BACTERIA, AND TEST THEM FOR PLANT GROWTH PROMOTION UNDER ABIOTIC STRESSES ON THE MODEL PLANT ARABIDOPSIS. SELECTED PGPB WILL BE CHARACTERIZED FURTHER BY WHOLE GENOME SEQUENCING AND WILL BE VALIDATED ON SELECTED GRAIN (MAIZE AND WHEAT), VEGETABLE (ONION AND WATERMELON), AND FORAGE (ALFALFA) CROPS. THE NATURAL MICROBIOME OF NATIVE PLANTS WILL HELP MITIGATE CROP YIELD REDUCTIONS CAUSED BY ABIOTIC STRESSES.