PLANT PATHOGENS CAN LEAD TO DEVASTATING CROP LOSSES AND THREATEN FOOD SECURITY BOTH DOMESTICALLY AND ABROAD. GREAT STRIDES HAVE BEEN MADE IN DEVELOPING PLANT RESISTANCE TO PATHOGENS. HOWEVER, MUCH OF THE CURRENT RESISTANCES RELIES ON GENE-SPECIFIC INTERACTIONS BETWEEN THE PATHOGEN AND PLANT HOST. BECAUSE OF THIS, THERE IS TREMENDOUS PRESSURE FOR PATHOGENS TO EVOLVE TO OVERCOME PLANT DISEASE RESISTANCE; OFTEN THIS IS REFERRED TO AS AN EVOLUTIONARY ARMS RACE BETWEEN THE PLANT AND PATHOGENS. THIS ARMS RACE DRIVES A NEED FOR CONTINUOUS RESEARCH INTO THE PLANT IMMUNE SYSTEM TO CULTIVATE NEW DISEASE RESISTANCE MECHANISMS THAT CAN ULTIMATELY BE DEPLOYED IN KEY CROP SPECIES. RECENTLY, THE DINESH-KUMAR LAB HAS PROVIDED STRONG EVIDENCE THAT CHLOROPLAST STROMULES SERVE AS REGULATORS OF PLANT IMMUNITY. CHLOROPLASTS SERVE AS A COMMON BATTLE GROUND FOR PATHOGENS; AS SUCH, UNDERSTANDING THE CHLOROPLAST'S ROLE IN THE IMMUNE RESPONSE, AS WELL AS PATHOGEN TARGETS WITHIN, MAY PROVIDE NOVEL RESISTANCE APPROACHES THAT CAN BE IMPLEMENTED IN MAJOR CROP PLANTS.THIS PROJECT COMBINES CELL BIOLOGY, MOLECULAR BIOLOGY, AND GENETIC APPROACHES TO UNDERSTAND THE SPECIFIC ROLE THAT CHLOROPLAST STROMULES SERVE DURING THE PLANT IMMUNE RESPONSE. I WILL BE USING MACHINE LEARNING ON LIVE-CELL IMAGES TO UNDERSTAND THE EFFECT THAT PATHOGENS HAVE ON THE MORPHOLOGICAL CHARACTERISTICS OF STROMULES AND THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH OTHER COMPONENTS OF THE PLANT CELL. FURTHER, I WILL ALSO BE USING CUTTING-EDGE PROXIMITY LABELING TECHNIQUES TO DETERMINE THE SPECIFIC TARGETS OF PATHOGENS WITHIN A HOST CELL. COMBINING THESE RESULTS WITH WELL-PROVEN REVERSE GENETIC APPROACHES WILL PROVIDE A HOLISTIC VIEW OF CHLOROPLAST STROMULE DYNAMICS DURING THE IMMUNE RESPONSE AND PROVIDE A PUTATIVE LIST OF PROTEINS THAT ARE REQUIRED FOR STROMULE FORMATION AND FUNCTION. FURTHER, THESE RESULTS WILL PROVIDE EXCITING NEW AVENUES FOR STUDYING THE PLANT IMMUNE SYSTEM AND WILL ULTIMATELY LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW AND DIVERSE STRATEGIES TO COMBAT PLANT PATHOGENS.