**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** COTTON (GOSSYPIUM SPP.) IS THE WORLD'S LEADING FIBER CROP, AND COTTONSEED ALSO PRODUCES 14-19% OF FARM-GATE VALUE. ELEVATING COTTON TO A MORE IMPORTANT FOOD CROP THROUGH IMPROVING SEED OIL CONTENT (SOC) AND QUALITY CAN SIGNIFICANTLY INCREASE THE NET INCOME FOR COTTON PRODUCERS AND COTTONSEED PROCESSERS. THE SOC AND ITS GENETIC VARIATION WITHIN UPLAND CULTIVARS ARE BOTH LOW. THROUGH INTROGRESSION GENETICS AND BREEDING BETWEEN UPLAND (G. HIRSUTUM) AND PIMA COTTON (G. BARBADENSE), COTTON SOC AND OIL QUALITY CAN BE GREATLY IMPROVED BY UTILIZING DESIRABLE INTERSPECIFIC TRANSGRESSIVE SEGREGATION. THE LONG-TERM OBJECTIVE IS TO DEVELOP HIGH SOC UPLAND COTTON WITH IMPROVED OIL QUALITY, HIGH-YIELD AND DESIRABLE FIBER QUALITY FOR THE U.S. COTTON BELT. AFTER A FIELD TEST OF 2,900 INTROGRESSION LINES (ILS) FOLLOWED BY MULTI-LOCATION FIELD TESTS OF SELECTED ILS, WE WILL RELEASE A CULTIVAR AND MANY ELITE ILS WITH HIGH SOC AND IMPROVED OIL QUALITY THAT IS BEYOND THE CURRENT BOUNDARY IN UPLAND COTTON, FACILITATING A BREAKTHROUGH IN ELEVATING COTTON TO A MORE IMPORTANT OILSEED CROP FOR THE FIRST TIME. THROUGH A GENOME-WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDY (GWAS) OF 500 SELECTED ILS BASED ON GENOME RE-SEQUENCING, GWAS OF 100 SELECTED ILS BASED ON RNA-SEQ, AND QTL-SEQ, WE WILL IDENTIFY QUANTITATIVE TRAIT LOCI (QTL) AND UNDERLYING CANDIDATE GENES FOR ENHANCING SOC AND FATTY ACIDS FOR FURTHER MOLECULAR GENOMIC STUDIES AND FOR PORTABLE MARKER DEVELOPMENT TO BE USED IN MOLECULAR BREEDING. THE RESULTS WILL PROVIDE THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE GENETIC AND GENOMIC INSIGHT INTO THE MOLECULAR BASIS OF TRANSGRESSIVE SEGREGATION FOR SOC AND FATTY ACIDS IN COTTON.