OATS ARE ONE OF THE MOST IMPORTANT CEREAL CROPS WORLDWIDE AND NORTH DAKOTA IS THE LEADING PRODUCER OF OATS FOR GRAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. OATS ARE VALUABLE AS A MULTIFUNCTIONAL FOOD DUE TO THEIR MANY HEALTHY COMPOUNDS INCLUDING A WELL-BALANCED AMINO ACID PROFILE IN PROTEINS, SOLUBLE DIETARY FIBER, UNSATURATED FATTY ACIDS, BETA-GLUCAN, ESSENTIAL MINERALS, AVENANTHRAMIDES, AND VITAMINS.IN RESPONSE TO THE RISING AWARENESS OF OATS MANY HEALTH-PROMOTING COMPOUNDS, BREEDING FOR NUTRITIONAL QUALITY TRAITS HAS BECOME A KEY GOAL FOR OAT BREEDERS. HOWEVER, THERE ARE SOME CHALLENGES THAT CAUSE YIELD AND NUTRITIONAL QUALITY LOSSES IN OATS. CROWN RUST IS ONE OF THE MOST DAMAGING DISEASES THAT THREATEN OAT PRODUCTION AND YIELD STABILITY WORLDWIDE.THE LONG-TERM GOALS OF THIS PROJECT ARE TO: 1) IDENTIFY NEW SOURCES OF CROWN RUST RESISTANCE INTROGRESSED FROM THE RELATED WILD HEXAPLOID OATS INTO CULTIVATED HEXAPLOID OATS, AND 2) ACCELERATE THE IMPROVEMENT OF OATS FOR NUTRITIONAL QUALITY TRAITS USING GENOMIC APPROACHES. THIS PROJECT WILL TRAIN HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS AS THE NEXT GENERATION SCIENTISTS IN BOTH CONVENTIONAL AND MOLECULAR BREEDING METHODS. FURTHERMORE, IT WILL BENEFIT THE ENTIRE OAT BREEDING AND GENETICS COMMUNITY BY GENERATING AND DISTRIBUTING GENOTYPIC AND PHENOTYPIC DATA FOR BOTH NEW SOURCES OF CROWN RUST RESISTANCE AND A GREATER UNDERSTANDING OF GENETIC ARCHITECTURE UNDERLYING NUTRITIONAL QUALITY TRAITS. MOREOVER, IT WILL BENEFIT OAT GROWERS AND BREEDERS BY INCORPORATING NEW SOURCES OF IMPROVED GRAIN QUALITY AND CROWN RUST RESISTANCE INTO BREEDING LINES.