GRAM-POSITIVE (G+) ACTINOBACTERIA OF THECLAVIBACTERGENUS ARE ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT BACTERIAL PATHOGENS KNOWN FOR THEIR ABILITY TO CAUSE CANKER AND WILTING DISEASES.1,2DESPITE CURRENT DISEASE CONTROL MEASURES INCLUDING GOOD HORTICULTURAL PRACTICES AND MONITORING SEED STOCK, OUTBREAKS OFCLAVIBACTERPATHOGENS HAVE OCCURRED IN RECENT YEARS. IN OTHER PATHOGENS, GENES IMPORTANT FOR PATHOGENICITY AND HOST RANGE INCLUDE SECRETED EFFECTOR PROTEINS THAT SUPPRESS HOST IMMUNITY, ALTER HOST METABOLISM, AND ENABLE COLONIZATION. EFFECTORS, WHICH ARE SECRETED INTO THE EXTRACELLULAR SPACE, PROVIDE A FITNESS ADVANTAGE FOR THE BACTERIUM AND ARE MAINTAINED WITHIN THE GENOME. HOWEVER, PERCEPTION OF EFFECTORS AND GENE-ENCODED STRUCTURAL COMPONENTS, ALSO REFERRED TO AS MICROBE-ASSOCIATED MOLECULAR PATTERNS (MAMPS), ENABLES THE PLANT HOST TO SURVEY FOR ANTAGONISTS AND INITIATE AN IMMUNE RESPONSE.6CURRENTLY, A MECHANISTIC UNDERSTANDING OF THESE INTERACTIONS IS UNKNOWN IN G+ ACTINOBACTERIA. THE PROPOSED WORK WILL FOCUS ON TWO QUESTIONS: 1) WHAT GENETIC LOCI MEDIATE PATHOGENICITY AND HOST RANGE INCLAVIBACTERAND 2) CAN PLANT IMMUNE RECEPTORS PERCEIVE G+ BACTERIA? USING A COMPUTATIONAL-DRIVEN APPROACH, I WILL PREDICT EFFECTORS INVOLVED IN PATHOGENICITY AND HOST RANGE AS WELL AS MAMPS THAT MAY BE PERCEIVED BY PLANTS. THESE CANDIDATE LOCI WILL BE FUNCTIONALLY VALIDATED TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THEIR ROLE INCLAVIBACTER-PLANT INTERACTIONS.