CONTINUING TO IMPROVE ANIMAL PRODUCTION EFFICIENCY IS CRITICAL IN OUR ABILITY TO MEET THE PROTEIN DEMANDS OF A GROWING GLOBAL POPULATION. ONE OF THE MAJOR LIMITATIONS TO INCREASING REPRODUCTIVE EFFICIENCY IN AGRICULTURALLY IMPORTANT SPECIES IS OVERCOMING EMBRYONIC DEATH DURING THE INITIAL WEEKS OF PREGNANCY. OUR GOAL IN THIS RESEARCH PROJECT IS TO DEFINE SPECIFIC MECHANISMS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO CONTROLLING REPRODUCTIVE ABILITY, IN ORDER THAT IMPROVED STRATEGIES CAN BE DEVELOPED TO ENHANCE AGRICULTURAL EFFICIENCY. THE OBJECTIVE OF THIS PROJECT IS TO DEFINE THE REGULATORY CAPABILITIES OF SMALL RNA MOLECULES AND THE MECHANISMS THEY UTILIZE TO AFFECT PIG OOCYTE AND EMBRYO QUALITY. THIS WILL BE ACCOMPLISHED BY CHARACTERIZING THE REGULATION OF TWO SMALL RNA MOLECULES, MIR21 AND MIR574, IN THE OOCYTE AND UNDERSTANDING THEIR ROLE IN PRODUCING HIGH QUALITY EMBRYOS CAPABLE OF DEVELOPING INTO HEALTHY PIGLETS. THE COMPLETION OF THIS PROJECT WILL PRODUCE NEW, VALUABLE INFORMATION REGARDING THE IMPACT SPECIFIC SMALL RNA MOLECULES HAVE ON THE PRODUCTION OF FEMALE GAMETES (REPRODUCTIVE CELLS). THE ANTICIPATED IMPACT OF THIS RESEARCH PROJECT IS THAT IT WILL FILL A KNOWLEDGE GAP THAT CURRENTLY PREVENTS OUR FULL UNDERSTANDING OF HOW PIG OOCYTES ARE DEVELOPED. FURTHERMORE, THE RESULTS OF THIS PROJECT ARE EXPECTED TO ADVANCE THE SCIENTIFIC COMMUNITY'S FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING OF REPRODUCTIVE BIOLOGY IN DOMESTIC ANIMALS THAT CAN BE USED FOR FUTURE TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH EXPECTED TO POSITIVE INFLUENCE ANIMAL AGRICULTURE.