DESPITE THE FORTIFICATION OF MANY PROCESSED FOODS, SPECIFIC DEMOGRAPHICS THROUGHOUT THE U.S. DO NOT OBTAIN THE RECOMMENDED DAILY AMOUNT OF DIETARY CAROTENOIDS (LUTEIN AND ZEAXANTHIN; IMPORTANT FOR EYE HEALTH) AND TOCOCHROMANOLS (VITAMIN E) REQUIRED FOR OPTIMAL HEALTH. SWEET CORN IS THE THIRD MOST COMMONLY CONSUMED VEGETABLE IN THE U.S. ALTHOUGH SWEET CORN DOES NOT CURRENTLY MAKE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO DAILY INTAKES OF TOCOCHROMANOLS AND CAROTENOIDS, IT IS AN IDEAL CANDIDATE FOR THE BIOFORTIFICATION OF THESE METABOLITES. THIS PROJECT WILL INTEGRATE NOVEL GENE EXPRESSION DATA WITH EXISTING GENOMIC MARKER AND FRESH SWEET CORN KERNEL METABOLITE DATASETS THROUGH A COMBINATION OF GENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDIES AND TRANSCRIPTOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDIES, ALLOWING FOR IMPROVED UNDERSTANDING OF THE GENETIC BASIS OF CAROTENOID AND TOCOCHROMANOL TRAITS. THESE DATA WILL BE ALSO UTILIZED TO INCREASE PREDICTIVE ABILITIES FOR GENOMIC SELECTION IN SWEET CORN BIOFORTIFICATION BREEDING PROGRAMS. THIS PROJECT WILL SERVE TO ADVANCE THE AFRI FOUNDATIONAL AREA OF PLANT HEALTH AND PRODUCTION, AND PLANT PRODUCTS THROUGH CONTRIBUTIONS TO BIOFORTIFICATION EFFORTS OF HUMAN NUTRITIONAL COMPOUNDS IN AN ECONOMICALLY AND CULTURALLY IMPORTANT VEGETABLE CROP. THE RESOURCES GENERATED THROUGH THIS PROJECT WILL ENABLE BREEDERS TO MAKE IMPORTANT SELECTION DECISIONS, DECREASING OVERALL COSTS WHILE MAXIMIZING GENETIC GAIN. THIS PROJECT WILL SIMULTANEOUSLY PROVIDE THE PROJECT DIRECTOR WITH THE TRAINING NECESSARY TO BECOME A HIGHLY SKILLED PLANT BREEDER AND GENETICIST, ABLE TO FURTHER CONTRIBUTE TO THE IMPROVEMENT OF U.S. AGRICULTURE.