**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** PLANT NATURAL PRODUCTS PROVIDE VALUABLE NUTRACEUTICALS, PHARMACEUTICALS, AND BIO-PRODUCTS. GLOBAL CROP PRODUCTION SYSTEMS PROVIDE SUSTAINABLE AND POTENTIALLY EFFICIENT CHEMICAL PRODUCTION PLATFORMS, AS PLANTS CAN NATURALLY PRODUCE AND STORE ABUNDANT CHEMICALS. HOWEVER, LITTLE EFFORT HAS BEEN MADE TO IDENTIFY AND BUILD PLANT HOSTS FOR SIZABLE PRODUCTION OF NATURAL PRODUCTS. THE PROJECT WILL ADDRESS TWO OUTSTANDING QUESTIONS THWARTING THIS ISSUE: WHICH PLANTS SERVE AS EFFICIENT CHEMICAL PRODUCTION PLATFORMS? WHAT IS THE CONTRIBUTION OF PRECURSOR SUPPLY FOR NATURAL PRODUCT SYNTHESIS?L-TYROSINE IS AN ESSENTIAL HUMAN NUTRIENT AND A KEY PRECURSOR OF NUMEROUS PLANT NATURAL PRODUCTS, INCLUDING BETALAIN PIGMENTS WHOSE GLOBAL DEMAND IS INCREASING DUE TO THEIR HEALTH BENEFITS AND CONCERNS OVER THE SAFETY OF SYNTHETIC DYES. THE PD'S LABORATORY RECENTLY FOUND EVOLUTIONARY DIVERSIFICATION OF TYROSINE BIOSYNTHESIS IN DIFFERENT PLANTS AND DISCOVERED DEREGULATED TYROSINE-SYNTHESIZING ENZYMES, WHOSE EXPRESSION IN HETEROLOGOUS PLANTS LED TO TYROSINE HYPER-ACCUMULATION. BUILDING UPON THESE FINDINGS, THIS PROJECT WILL TEST THE HYPOTHESIS THAT CERTAIN PLANTS WITH ABUNDANT TYROSINE SUPPLY SERVE AS IDEAL HOSTS TO EFFICIENTLY PRODUCE BETALAIN PIGMENTS, EASILY-TRACTABLE PLANT NATURAL PRODUCTS DERIVED FROM TYROSINE. THE PROJECT WILL FIRST CONDUCT PROOF-OF-CONCEPT EXPERIMENTS BY INTRODUCING BETALAIN PATHWAY ENZYMES IN ARABIDOPSIS TRANSGENICS ACCUMULATING DIFFERENT LEVELS OF TYROSINE. THE PROJECT WILL ALSO TEST CROSS-SPECIES TRANSLATABILITY BY TRANSFORMING SOYBEAN, TOBACCO, AND SORGHUM, HAVING UNIQUE TYROSINE PATHWAYS, TOGETHER WITH THESE BETALAIN GENES WITH AND WITHOUT THE DEREGULATED TYROSINE BIOSYNTHETIC ENZYME. THE STUDY WILL GENERATE PROTOTYPE CROPS FOR NUTRIENT-ENRICHED FUNCTIONAL FOOD, FEED, AND NATURAL DYE, AND ALSO LAY ESSENTIAL GROUNDWORK TOWARDS CROP-BASED PRODUCTION OF NATURAL AND BIO-PRODUCTS. THUS, THE STUDY HAS A POTENTIAL TO DEVELOP NEW AGRICULTURALLY-BASED INDUSTRIAL AND FOOD PRODUCTS AND TO TRANSFORM THE US AGRICULTURE AND ECONOMY.