THE MAJOR APPROACHES TO PLANT GENOME EDITING STILL REQUIRE PLANT TRANSFORMATION TO INTRODUCE THE REAGENTS REQUIRED FOR GENE EDITING INTO THE TARGET PLANT SPECIES. SORGHUM IS IMPORTANT FOR GRAIN AND FORAGE PRODUCTION AND BOTH SORGHUM AND SWITCHGRASS ARE IMPORTANT FEEDSTOCKS FOR BIOENERGY PRODUCTION. BOTH SPECIES CAN BE TRANSFORMED BY AGROBACTERIUM, BUT THE PROCESS IS CHALLENGING AND GENOTYPE-DEPENDENT, AND THUS, THE FULL POTENTIAL OF GENOME EDITING CANNOT YET BE FULLY REALIZED. THIS PROJECT PROPOSES TO USE VIRUSES TO OVERCOME THE TISSUE CULTURE BARRIER TO EDIT PLANT GENES. VIRUSES ARE NATURAL GENE DELIVERY VEHICLES THAT ARE USED TO EXPRESS PROTEINS AND NON-CODING SEQUENCES IN PLANTS AS THEY GROW AND DEVELOP, AND ARE THUS SUITABLE FOR DELIVERING GENE EDITING REAGENTS. THE METHODS TO BE DEVELOPED ARE EXPECTED TO SIMPLIFY AND ACCELERATE GENE EDITING APPLICATIONS IN SORGHUM AND SWITCHGRASS, WHICH WILL ENABLE MORE RAPID PROGRESS IN IMPROVING AGRICULTURAL TRAITS RELATED TO YIELD, STRESS ANDDISEASE RESISTANCE, NUTRIENT USE EFFICIENCY, AND END-USE APPLICATIONS.