WITH THE INCREASED FREQUENCY OF EXTREME WEATHER EVENTS IN RECENT YEARS, CROP YIELDS THROUGHOUT THE UNITED STATES HAVE BEEN THREATENED, PRESSURING FOOD SECURITY AND THE ECONOMIC SECURITY OF FARMERS. IN EFFORTS TO COMBAT THIS, PLANT BREEDERS DEVELOP VARIETIES THAT CAN BETTER WITHSTAND HEAT, DROUGHTS, FLOODS, AND COLD. THIS PROCESS NEEDS TO BE ACCELERATED, AS IT CAN TAKE A DECADE TO BRING A NEW VARIETY TO MARKET. ONE APPROACH IS TO FACILITATE BREEDING IS TO BETTER UNDERSTAND HOW PLANTS RESPOND TO WEATHER STRESSES AT THE MOLECULAR AND CELLULAR LEVELS. BREEDERS CAN THEN UTILIZE THIS INFORMATION WHEN DEVELOPING NEW VARIETIES.TO GROW THE KNOWLEDGE OF HOW PLANT RESPONSES TO CHALLENGING WEATHER EVENTS, WE WILL FOCUS ON UNDERSTANDING HOW YIELD LOSSES OCCUR IN DURUM WHEAT DUE TO HEAT STRESS. DURUM WHEAT IS PRIMARILY USED TO MAKE PASTA. WE WILL USE NEXT- GENERATION SEQUENCING TECHNOLOGIES TO UNDERSTAND HOW THE DURUM DNA AND ITS OUTPUTS CHANGES IN RESPONSE TO HEAT STRESS DURING THE INITIAL FORMATION OF THE GRAIN. WITH THIS INFORMATION, WE CAN BUILD A MODEL OF HOW DIFFERENT GENES ENCODED BY DNA REGULATE ONE-ANOTHER DURING THIS PROCESS. BY COMBINING THIS INFORMATION WITH THE KNOWLEDGE OF BREEDERS, WE CAN EVENTUALLY PREDICT WAYS TO BREED DURUM WHEAT TO BETTER WITHSTAND HEAT STRESS. BECAUSE DURUM IS CLOSELY RELATED TO BREAD WHEAT AND BARLEY, THESE RESULTS WILL ALSO IMPACT UNDERSTANDING OF THOSE CROPS AS WELL. WITH THIS INFORMATION, WE CAN REDUCE THE NEGATIVE IMPACTS OF HEAT STRESS ON CEREAL YIELDS, STABILIZE WHEAT PRODUCTION, AND IMPROVE THE LIVELIHOODS OF PRODUCERS.