**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** TUTA ABSOLUTA (MEYRICK 1971), COMMONLY REFERRED TO AS TOMATO LEAF MINER, TOMATO BORER, OR THE SOUTH AMERICAN TOMATO PINWORM, IS ONE OF THE MOST DEVASTATING PESTS OF TOMATO (BAHAMONDES AND MALLEA 1969; POVOLNY 1994; ?URI? ET. AL 2014; BIONDI ET AL. 2018). FRESH AND PROCESSING TOMATOES REPRESENT A MASSIVE ECONOMIC INDUSTRY WORLDWIDE WITH AN ESTIMATED 241 MILLION METRIC TONS OF TOMATOES HARVESTED IN 2017 (FAOSTAT 2017). ALTERNATIVE HOSTS OF T. ABSOLUTA INCLUDE OTHER SOLANACEOUS PLANTS SUCH AS POTATOES AND EGGPLANTS, WHICH ALSO REPRESENT SIGNIFICANT AGRICULTURAL CROPS. NATIVE TO SOUTH AMERICA, T. ABSOLUTA WAS CONFINED TO THAT CONTINENT UNTIL IT WAS IDENTIFIED IN SPAIN IN 2006 (DESNEUX ET AL. 2010; GUILLEMAUD ET AL. 2015). IT HAS NOW SPREAD TO ALMOST EVERY CONTINENT, THREATENING COUNTRIES WHOSE ECONOMIES AND FOOD SECURITY RELY HEAVILY ON TOMATOES (CABI 2016; CAMPOS ET AL. 2017; MUTAMISWA ET AL. 2017; BIONDI ET AL. 2018; MANSOUR ET AL. 2018; HAN ET AL. 2018; 2019). THIS INSECT CAUSES DAMAGE TO ALL DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES OF ITS HOST PLANT, LEADING TO CROP LOSSES AS HIGH AS 80 TO 100% (BIONDI ET AL. 2018; GODFREY ET AL. 2018). ALTHOUGH T. ABSOLUTA HAS YET TO BE FOUND IN THE UNITED STATES (U.S.), WHICH MAKES UP A LARGE PORTION OF THE TOMATO PRODUCTION IN THE WORLD, COMPUTER MODELS PROJECT A HIGH LIKELIHOOD OF INVASION (USDA 2011; TONNANG ET AL. 2015; BIONDI ET AL. 2018). TO HALT THE CONTINUED SPREAD OF T. ABSOLUTA AND MINIMIZE ECONOMIC LOSS ASSOCIATED WITH THE TOMATO SUPPLY CHAIN AS WELL AS POTATO AND EGGPLANT PRODUCTION, ACCURATE AND EFFICIENT METHODS TO IDENTIFY T. ABSOLUTA AND STRENGTHEN SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMS ARE URGENTLY NEEDED. CURRENT IDENTIFICATION OF T. ABSOLUTA RELIES ON EXAMINATION OF MORPHOLOGY AND ASSESSMENT OF HOST PLANT DAMAGE, WHICH ARE DIFFICULT TO DIFFERENTIATE FROM THAT OF NATIVE GELECHIIDAE PESTS. TO ADDRESS THIS NEED, WE HAVE RECENTLY SEQUENCED THE GENOMES OF T. ABSOLUTA AND TWO CLOSELY RELATED GELECHIIDAE THAT ARE COMMONLY FOUND IN CALIFORNIA, THE TOMATO PINWORM KEIFERIA LYCOPERSICELLA (WALSHINGHAM 1897) AND THE POTATO TUBER MOTH PHTHORIMAEA OPERCULELLA (ZELLER 1873) (TABULOC ET AL. 2019). THE OVERALL GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO LEVERAGE THESE NEW GENOMIC RESOURCES WE HAVE DEVELOPED TO DEVELOP RAPID MOLECULAR DIAGNOSTICS TO DIFFERENTIATE T. ABSOLUTA OF ALL LIFE STAGES FROM CLOSELY RELATED GELECHIIDS THAT ARE NATIVE TO THE U.S. SPECIFICALLY, WE WILL (1) SEQUENCE GENOMES OF GELECHIIDS THAT ARE MORPHOLOGICALLY SIMILAR TO T. ABSOLUTA, IN ADDITION TO SPECIES WE HAVE ALREADY SEQUENCED, (2) PERFORMED BIOINFORMATIC ANALYSIS TO DESIGN SPECIES DIAGNOSTICS, (3) VALIDATE TAQMAN AND CRISPR-BASED DIAGNOSTICS IN THE LABORATORY, AND (4) VALIDATE IN-FIELD CRISPR-BASED MOLECULAR DIAGNOSTICS FOR SPECIES IDENTIFICATION. MORE EFFICIENT AND ACCURATE DIAGNOSTICS WILL DECREASE TIME REQUIRED FOR POSITIVE IDENTIFICATION BY REGULATORS AND REDUCE LENGTH OF COSTLY QUARANTINE HOLDS FOR THE CROP INDUSTRIES. FURTHERMORE, DEVELOPMENT OF IN-FIELD DIAGNOSTICS WILL FACILITATE MONITORING EFFORTS BY CROP CONSULTANTS AND REGULATORY PERSONNEL, ENABLE PROMPT RESPONSE TO PREVENT THE ESTABLISHMENT OF T. ABSOLUTA, AND CONTAIN ITS SPREAD. THE PRIMARY BENEFICIARIES OF THIS PROJECT ARE INDUSTRIES INVOLVED IN THE PRODUCTION OF TOMATOES, POTATOES, AND EGGPLANTS, WHICH REPRESENT MAJOR HOSTS FOR T. ABSOLUTA. BEYOND THIS PROJECT, THE DIAGNOSTIC TECHNOLOGIES WE DEVELOP CAN BE BROADLY UTILIZED TO DETECT OTHER KEY INSECT PESTS OR PLANT DISEASE AGENTS.