The project aims to decipher the origin, distribution, and dissemination of the apple microbiome. This will help us find answer more general questions such as what is the origin of the plant microbiome? is the plant’s microbiome inherited, and if so, how? what defines the mature state of the plant microbiome? how does the plant acquire microbes to complement its inherited microbiome in order to reach that mature state? how the microbiome is distributed among the plant parts, organs, and tissue systems? how the microbiome is disseminated to the environment? and how it is transmitted to new hosts? what is the relationship between these microorganisms and the plant’s health, production, and produce quality?
Answering these questions will provide the foundation of a new revolution in understanding and assisting the management of plant health and productivity, and the development of environmentally-friendly agricultural practices. The Apple-Biome project uses hypothesis-driven approach to decipher to the origin and restauration of a healthy
*At the time of the proposal. Please consider this data as an accurate estimate; it may vary during the project’s lifespan.
Total costs include in kind contribution by grant holders and can therefore be higher than the total requested funding.