**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** WHEAT BREEDING IN THE US GREAT PLAINS IS MOSTLY FOCUSED ON IMPROVING HARD WINTER WHEAT, WHICH REMAINS ONE OF THE MAJOR CROPS IN KANSAS, WITH 8-12 MILLION ACRES PLANTED EVERY YEAR AND ANNUAL PRODUCTION RANGING BETWEEN 280 AND 460 MILLION BUSHELS. GRAIN YIELD AND GRAIN QUALITY ARE AMONG THE MAJOR BREEDING TARGETS FOR HARD WINTER WHEAT. WITH CONTINUED DECREASE IN PLANTED WINTER WHEAT ACRES IN KANSAS, ABILITY TO HARVEST MORE GRAIN WITH INCREASED PROTEIN CONTENT AND BREAD MAKING QUALITY FROM SMALLER AREA ARE IMPORTANT FACTORS CONSIDERED BY WHEAT GROWERS DURING VARIETY SELECTION. IMPROVING GRAIN YIELD AND QUALITY IS A ALSO A MAIN PRIORITY FOR THE STATE'S COMMODITY ASSOCIATION AND MILLING INDUSTRY.RECENT ADVANCES IN WHEAT GENETICS AND GENOMICS HELPED TO BETTER UNDERSTAND THE GENETIC BASIS OF MANY AGRONOMIC TRAITS ALLOWING WHEAT BREEDERS TO ACCELERATE DEVELOPMENT OF NEW VARIETIES BY UTILIZING THIS INFORMATION. THE IDENTIFICATION OF GENES THAT UNDERLIE TRAIT VARIATION OPENED NEW OPPORTUNITIES FOR WHEAT IMPROVEMENT BY STACKING FAVOURABLE VARIANTS OF VARIOUS GENES, WHICH ARE THE PART OF THE BIOLOGICAL PATHWAYS CONTROLLING THE SAME OR COMPLEMENTARY AGRONOMIC TRAITS. THE SUCCESS OF THIS BREEDING PROCESS DEPENDENT ON THE AVAILABILITY OF NOVEL VARIANTS OF GENES. WHILE TRADITIONALLY THESE VARIANTS ARE INTRODUCED INTO THE BREEDING PROGRAMS FROM CULTIVARS FROM OTHER GEOGRAPHIC REGIONS, OR CLOSE AND DISTANT ANCESTORS OF WHEAT, RECENT ADVANCES IN GENOMIC TECHNOLOGIES PROVIDE AN OPPORTUNITY TO CREATE NOVEL GENE VARIANTS USING THE CRISPR TOOLS. THESE TOOLS ALLOW RESEARCHERS TO PRECISELY MODIFY THE GENETIC CODE AND CREATE NEW GENES THAT HAVE POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE AGRONOMIC TRAITS. RECOGNIZING THE FUTURE POTENTIAL OF THIS NOVEL GENE EDITING TECHNOLOGIES, KANSAS WHEAT COMMISSION AND THE STATE'S WHEAT GROWERS PRIORITIZED THIS DIRECTION OF RESEARCH, AND CONTRIBUTED FUNDING TO BUILD WHEAT GENOME EDITING CAPACITY AT K-STATE. OUR PROJECT WILL BUILD ON THESE RESOURCES AND EXPAND FURTHER THE SET OF TOOLS AVAILABLE FOR WHEAT GENOME EDITING.WE WILL FOCUS ON TRANSFERRING THE CRISPR-INDUCED GENES THAT SHOWED POTENTIAL TO INCREASE GRAIN YIELD AND GRAIN QUALITY INTO THE HARD WINTER WHEAT CULTIVARS FROM THE KANSAS WHEAT BREEDING PROGRAM. WE WILL INTRODUCE THE CRISPR-INDUCED GENES INTO THE WHEAT CULTIVARS THAT ALREADY HAVE OTHER SUPERIOR TRAITS, SUCH AS IMPROVED ROOT SYSTEM, GOOD BREAD MAKING QUALITY, HIGH YIELD, OR HIGH GRAIN PROTEIN CONTENT. BY TRANSFERRING THESE NEW VARIANTS OF GENES INTO THE ADAPTED CULTIVARS, WE WILL BE ABLE TO INVESTIGATE THEIR INTERACTION WITH GENES THAT DEFINE THE SUPERIOR TRAITS IMPORTANT FOR WHEAT PRODUCTION IN KANSAS, AND SELECT OPTIMAL COMBINATIONS OF CULTIVARS AND CRISPR-INDUCED GENES FOR IMPROVING WINTER WHEAT. THE CRISPR TOOLS PREVIOUSLY APPLIED TO EDIT THE WHEAT GENOME ARE NOT EFFECTIVE AT PERFORMING CERTAIN TYPES OF MANIPULATIONS WITH THE GENETIC CODE, SUCH AS REPLACEMENT OF INDIVIDUAL BASES IN DNA. IN OUR PROJECT, WE WILL TRY TO EXPAND THE RANGE OF DNA ALTERATIONS POSSIBLE IN THE WHEAT GENOME BY APPLYING NOVEL TECHNOLOGY, REFERRED TO AS PRIME EDITING, TO MODIFY GENES THAT HAVE POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE WHEAT PRODUCTIVITY.OUR PROJECT WILL COLLABORATE WITH THE WHEAT RESEARCH AND IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMS AT KSU, KANSAS WHEAT INNOVATION CENTER, INTERNATIONAL WHEAT YIELD PARTNERSHIP (IWYP), USDA NIFA WHEAT COORDINATED AGRICULTURAL PROJECT (CAP), AND THE NIFA IWYP WINTER WHEAT BREEDING INNOVATION (WWBI) HUB AT KSU. ALIGNING OUR PROJECT PRIORITIES WITH THE PRIORITIES OF THESE NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL INITIATIVES, WE WILL BROADEN THE PROJECT'S IMPACT, AND FACILITATE INCORPORATION OF THE PROJECT OUTCOMES INTO THE BREEDING PIPELINES OF PRIVATE AND PUBLIC BREEDING PROGRAMS. WE WILL WORK ON BROADENING THE TRAINING OPPORTUNITIES IN GENOME EDITING TECHNOLOGIES FOR GRADUATE STUDENTS, RESEARCHERS AND BREEDERS. OUR EFFORTS WILL CONTRIBUTE TO THE KANSAS WHEAT BREEDING PROGRAM'S MISSION TO DEVELOP STRATEGIES FOR DELIVERING HIGH-YIELDING WHEAT VARIETIES WITH IMPROVED QUALITY TO KANSAS FRAMERS, AND ADDRESS ONE OF THE KEY PRIORITIES OF THE NIFA USDA PROGRAM TO IMPROVE CROP PRODUCTIVITY AND QUALITY IN THE LOCAL U.S. FARMING SYSTEMS.