** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THIS PROJECT USES DETAILED ANALYSIS TO ADDRESS A FUNDAMENTAL ASPECT OF HOW TO FORM ROOTS ON CUTTINGS OF WOODY PLANTS, A PROCESS THAT IS CRITICALLY IMPORTANT FOR IMPROVEMENT OF WOODY PLANT AGRICULTURE. THE GOAL WILL BE TO UNDERSTAND THE DIFFERENT FATES OF TREATMENTS WITH ROOTING COMPOUNDS IN ORDER TO DEFINE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN HYBRID HAZELNUTS THAT RESPOND TO SIMPLE TREATMENTS AND HAZELNUT LINES THAT ARE SIGNIFICANTLY LESS EFFECTIVELY ROOTED. MANY AUXIN COMPOUNDS THAT HAVE SHOWN TO BE EFFECTIVE IN MODEL SYSTEMS OR THAT SHOWED PROMISING QUALITIES HAVE LESS HISTORY IN WOODY PLANT BIOLOGY. THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DESCRIBE IN EXACTING DETAIL THE DIFFERENCES IN WOODY PLANTS THAT DISPLAY DIFFERENTIAL ROOTING RESPONSES. WE WILL USE BOTH A CHEMICAL BIOLOGY APPROACH WITH DIFFERENT ROOTING COMPOUNDS AND COMPOUNDS THAT ALTER THE FATE OF THE ROOTING COMPOUNDS IN THE PLANT. TO COMPLIMENT THESE STUDIES, WE WILL USE THE NEW METHODS OF TARGETED METABOLOMIC ANALYSIS. METABOLOMICS IS THE ANALYTICAL APPROACH MOST CLOSELY RELATED TO THE PLANT PHENOTYPE AND THUS THESE METHODS WILL REPORT WITH PRECISION THE RESPONSES TO ROOTING TREATMENTS IN DIFFERENTLY RESPONSIVE WOODY PLANT LINES.