**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THE US CARROT CROP HAS AN ANNUAL VALUE OF $863 MILLION. CARROTS ARE THE 7TH MOST CONSUMED FRESH VEGETABLE IN THE US, AND THE US IS THE 4TH LARGEST PRODUCER OF CARROTS IN THE WORLD. CARROT IS WIDELY RECOGNIZED FOR ITS CONTRIBUTIONS TO HUMAN HEALTH THROUGH THE HIGH CONTENT OF PROVITAMIN A Β-CAROTENE IN ITS ROOT. THE PRODUCTION OF SUNFLOWERS FOR BOTH OIL AND NON-OIL PURPOSES HAS AN ANNUAL VALUE OF >$350 MILLION. SUNFLOWER IS ALSO THE #4 OIL CROP PRODUCED GLOBALLY. THE SUSTAINED COMMERCIAL INTEREST IN SUNFLOWER IS BASED IN LARGE PART BECAUSE OF THE INTRODUCTION OF HIGH- AND MID-OLEIC ACID OIL GERMPLASM THAT IS HIGHLY DESIRED FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF TRANS FAT-FREE BAKED AND FRIED FOODS.PLANTS ARE MASTER MANUFACTURERS OF USEFUL CHEMICALS, OR NATURAL PRODUCTS, THAT THEY NORMALLY USE TO PROTECT THEMSELVES AGAINST HERBIVORES AND MICROBIAL PATHOGENS, OR TO ATTRACT POLLINATORS. NATURAL PRODUCTS ACCOUNT FOR ONE-THIRD OF ALL FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION-APPROVED NOVEL DRUGS OR NEW MOLECULAR ENTITIES (NMES); 25% OF THESE ARE DERIVED FROM PLANTS. SIMILARLY, 11% OF THE 252 DRUGS CONSIDERED ESSENTIAL BY THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION ORIGINATED FROM FLOWERING PLANTS. DESPITE THEIR PREVALENCE AS THE SOURCE OF NUMEROUS PHARMACEUTICALS, THE ENTIRE SUITE OF BIOCHEMICAL MACHINERY NECESSARY FOR THE SYNTHESIS OF RELATIVELY FEW NATURAL PRODUCTS HAS BEEN IDENTIFIED.ONE IMPORTANT CLASS OF PLANT-DERIVED NATURAL PRODUCTS IS THE FALCARINS. FALCARINS ARE KNOWN TO ORIGINATE FROM LIPIDS FOUND IN ESSENTIALLY ALL LIVING ORGANISMS BUT THEIR SYNTHESIS IS RESTRICTED TO A HANDFUL OF PLANT FAMILIES WHICH INCLUDE FRESH-MARKET AND PROCESSING CROPS SUCH CARROTS AND OILSEEDS LIKE SUNFLOWER. FALCARINS ARE KNOWN FOR THEIR HEALTH PROMOTING, ANTI-CANCER AND ANTIMICROBIAL ACTIVITIES AND ARE THOUGHT TO BE CRITICAL FOR PLANT DEFENSE AGAINST AGRONOMICALLY-DEVASTATING PATHOGENS. ADDITIONALLY, SPECIFIC FALCARINS ARE KNOWN TO BE A COMPONENT OF THE BITTER TASTE OF CARROTS. DESPITE KNOWLEDGE OF THEIR EXISTENCE IN PLANTS FOR MORE THAN 50 YEARS, ONLY MODERATE PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE ON UNDERSTANDING HOW PLANTS MAKE FALCARINS, WHICH IN TURN HAS RESULTED IN LITTLE IF ANY EMPHASIS ON THE USE OF THESE NATURAL PRODUCTS IN CROP IMPROVEMENT EFFORTS.THE GOAL OF THE PROPOSED RESEARCH IS TO FULLY IDENTIFY AND CHARACTERIZE THE BIOCHEMICAL MACHINERY THAT PLANTS USE TO MAKE FALCARINS USING CARROT AND SUNFLOWER AS AGRONOMICALLY-RELEVANT PLANT SPECIES. TO ACCOMPLISH THIS, CUTTING-EDGE GENOMICS AND GENOME EDITING TECHNIQUES, SUCH AS CRISPR, WILL BE EMPLOYED. THROUGH THIS WORK, CARROT GERMPLASM WITH ALTERED FALCARIN CONTENT AND COMPOSITION WILL BE GENERATED. THE GERMPLASM AND INFORMATION GENERATED THROUGH THIS RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE A VALUABLE RESOURCE FOR PLANT BREEDING EFFORTS AIMED AT IMPROVING CROP RESILIENCE, ENHANCING FLAVOR PROFILES, AND IMPROVING THE NUTRITIONAL QUALITY OF CARROTS THAT WILL TRANSLATABLE TO OTHER CROP SPECIES. THIS RESEARCH FURTHER STANDS TO ELEVATE THE IMPORTANCE OF FALCARINS FOR HUMAN HEALTH,AS ANTI-CANCER COMPONENTS THAT PROVIDE ADDED VALUE AND BENEFITS TO CARROT AND SUNFLOWER PRODUCTION AND CONSUMPTION. GIVEN THE DEMONSTRATED HEALTH-PROMOTING PROPERTIES OF FALCARINS, WE ENVISION THAT THIS RESEARCH WILL ADVANCE THE USE OF CARROT IN FUNCTIONAL FOOD APPLICATIONS, A GROWING SEGMENT OF THE FOOD MARKET.

Board Of Regents Of Nevada System Of Higher Education

Investigators