PLANTS SYNTHESIZE A WIDE RANGE OF VOLATILE ORGANIC COMPOUNDS (VOCS) WITH ROLES IN DEFENSE AGAINST PATHOGENS, PLANT-TO-PLANT COMMUNICATION, AND PLANT-ANIMAL INTERACTIONS. SPECIFICALLY, COMPOSITION OF FLORAL VOCS AND THE CORRECT TIMING OF THEIR RELEASE ARE KEY DETERMINANTS IN ATTRACTING APPROPRIATE POLLINATORS FOR A PLANT. VOCS ARE THEREFORE HIGHLY IMPORTANT TO REPRODUCTIVE SUCCESS AND CROP YIELD. PETUNIA HAS BEEN ESTABLISHED AS A MODEL FOR VOC RESEARCH, AND GREAT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE IN UNDERSTANDING THE METABOLIC ENZYMES INVOLVED IN VOC PRODUCTION. HOWEVER, THE GENE REGULATORY NETWORKS UNDERLYING THE COORDINATION OF THE COMPLEX VOC METABOLIC PATHWAYS ARE POORLY UNDERSTOOD, AND THIS LACK OF KNOWLEDGE A MAJOR BARRIER TO ENDEAVORS SUCH AS METABOLIC ENGINEERING OF VOC PRODUCTION.THIS PROJECT AIMS TO STRENGTHEN OUR UNDERSTANDING OF GENE REGULATION NETWORKS UNDERLYING FLORAL VOC SYNTHESIS AND EMISSION, THROUGH INVESTIGATION OF SEVERAL IMPORTANT TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS INVOLVED IN ACTIVATING EXPRESSION OF GENES IN THE VOC PATHWAY. I ANTICIPATE THIS RESEARCH WILL ADVANCE KNOWLEDGE IN SEVERAL WAYS. FIRST, THE DATA PRODUCED WILL ALLOW IDENTIFICATION OF NOVEL CANDIDATE GENES INVOLVED IN THE PROCESS OF VOC PRODUCTION AND RELEASE. SECOND, DEFINITION OF THE MASTER REGULATORY NETWORKS OF VOC PRODUCTION WILL ENABLE FUTURE ENGINEERING OF VOC PRODUCTION AND EMISSION. THIRD,FINDINGS FROM THIS RESEARCH IN FLORAL VOC PATHWAYS CAN SERVE AS A GENERAL KNOWLEDGE BASE FOR TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATION OF PLANT METABOLIC NETWORKS, AN AREA WHICH HOLDS GREAT PROMISE FOR IMPROVING THE YIELD, ENVIRONMENTAL RESILIENCE, AND NUTRIENT QUALITY OF CROPS.