**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** SWEET POTATOES (IPOMOEA BATATAS) ARE AN EMERGING CROP THAT IS IMPORTANT FOR U.S. AGRICULTURE. IN 2020, CONSUMPTION IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ROSE BY 15% COMPARED TO THE PREVIOUS YEAR AND HAS RISEN STEADILY SINCE 2000. IT IS THE SIXTH MOST IMPORTANT FOOD CROP GLOBALLY WITH CHINA PRODUCING 70% OF THE WORLD'S SWEET POTATO. IN 2021, ONE-THIRD OF THE FRESH VEGETABLE VOLUME CHINA SHIPPED TO THE UNITED STATES WAS SWEET POTATOES. NORTH CAROLINA, CALIFORNIA, MISSISSIPPI, AND TEXAS PRODUCE THE MOST SWEET POTATOES IN THE UNITED STATES AND, AS OF 2021, GENERATE A VALUE OF APPROXIMATELY $680 MILLION. SWEET POTATOES ARE STORAGE ROOTS WITH A LOT OF VITAMIN A AND FIBER AS WELL AS HARDY PLANTS WITH THE ABILITY TO GROW IN LESS THAN IDEAL SOIL CONDITIONS; HOWEVER, THEY ARE STILL SUSCEPTIBLE TO LOW NUTRIENT CONDITIONS. MY RESEARCH WILL DOCUMENT HOW MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES STABILIZE THEMSELVES DURING LOW NUTRIENT CONDITIONS AND USE THIS INFORMATION TO IMPROVE SWEET POTATO STRESS TOLERANCE. THE RESEARCH AND ASSOCIATED PRODUCTS CAN EVENTUALLY IMPROVE STORAGE ROOT PRODUCTION TO DOMESTICALLY ADDRESS THE INCREASING DEMAND FOR SWEET POTATOES.I WILL USE CULTURE-BASED TECHNIQUES, SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY, AND MANIPULATIVE FIELD AND HYDROPONIC EXPERIMENTS TO ADDRESS THE HYPOTHESIS THAT IPOMOEA BATATAS RHIZOSPHERE MICROBIAL FUNCTION IS DISTINCT BEFORE AND AFTER STORAGE ROOT PRODUCTION AND THE MICROBIAL COMMUNITY IS MORE IMPORTANT FOR PLANT HEALTH BEFORE STORAGE ROOT PRODUCTION. THE DATA AND RESULTS FROM EXPERIMENTS WILL BE SHARED IN PEER-REVIEWED PUBLICATIONS, SCIENTIFIC CONFERENCES, AND ACROSS SOCIAL MEDIA IN EASILY ACCESSIBLE INFOGRAPHICS. ULTIMATELY, THIS PROJECT WILL LEAD TO MORE INFORMATION ABOUT HOW MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES MAINTAIN THEIR STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION UNDER NUTRIENT LIMITATIONS AND POTENTIALLY CREATE MICROBIAL AMENDMENTS THAT CAN BE USED TO SUPPORT SWEET POTATO PRODUCTION