1. Please state project objectives and what work was done this quarter to address them:The objectives of this project are:1, To study the effect of Brs on priming immunity on young, newly planted trees. This will allow to know for how long immune response will last after Br application, so we can adjust timing (number of applications).We monitored summer flushes and they were more synchronized than in controls. Also it is apparent more root growth in trees treated with Brs. The canopies continue being denser than in controls and more fruit is growing in Br treated trees. In general tree health continues to be improved significantly. Since we are getting more synchronized flushes, we started concentrating Br sprays only at the time of flushing in a set of trees and follow psyllid population, with the idea of limiting Br application only to these moments of flushing and maximum psyllid pressure, as described in our previous report.2, To determine the best time of application (frequency) to achieve maximum protection against pests and disease in newly planted trees. After we determined that gene expression of genes related to SA pathway is maximum at 30 days, but still significant by 60 days, we have started treatments every other month in young trees to see if this rate is enough for protection.3, To determine the effect of Br application on advancing fruit maturation in both Valencia and Hamlin.We have contacted with CPI in Felda and we have started plans to use trees that have been injected with OTC and show symptoms of canopy recovery but not significant improvement in fruit quality to test if Br application can boost internal quality in the next season. As a reminder, this idea came after seeing this year that we get most of the Br effect on increasing Brix on trees with the best canopies (in our plots that are not treated with OTCs).Outreach:-Susmita Gaire, Ute Albrecht, Ozgur Batuman, Mongi Zekri, Fernando Alferez (2024).Individual Protective Covers (IPCs) Improve Yield and Quality of Citrus Fruit under Endemic Huanglongbing (HLB). Preprints (accepted in Plants, in press) https://doi.org/10.20944/preprints202407.2288.v1 CRDF project 22-003 is aknowledged in the publication, since the use of Brs as a strategy to prolong tree health and improve quality is discussed in the paper.2. Please state what work is anticipated for next quarter:-We will continue analyzing juice quality and determine gene expression as related not only to plant immunity, but also we are interested in sugar and acid metabolism in response to Br.-We will select trees with different response to OTC in terms of fruit quality, we will design the trial plots and will start to perform the treatments during this coming months in collaboration with CPI.-Finally, for objectives 1 and 2 we are starting a new set of trials: i) concentrate Br treatments in young trees only at the time of flushing and ii) apply Br every other month.-Outreach: September 19. Alferez, F. Evaluating Brassinosteroids to improve citrus fruit quality and tree protection under HLB. On zoom.3. Please state budget status (underspend or overspend, and why):This project was approved for 3rd year funding in July. We have reduced the budget in order to be more cost-efficient in this last year of the project.