**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THIS PROJECT SEEKS TO DETERMINE HOWSOME MAIZE VARIETIES ARE RESISTANT TO TAR SPOT DISEASE.BASED ON PREVIOUS WORK, WE SUSPECT THAT PHENOLIC COMPOUDS PLAY A ROLE IN RESISTANCE, SO OUR FIRST OBJECTIVE WILL BE TO MEASURE THESE BIOCHEMICALS IN THE LEAVES, THROUGHOUT THE GROWING SEASON AND IN RESPONSE TO INFECTION WITH THE DISEASE. OUR SECOND OBJECTIVE ALSO DRAWS FROM PREVIOUS WORK, WHERE WE HAVE IDENTIFIEDSOME CANDIDATES FOR REGIONS OF THE MAIZE GENOME CONTRIBUTING TO RESISTANCE; WE PLAN TO TEST AND VALIDATE THESE CANDIDATES USING MULTIPLE APPROACHES. WE'VE DEVELOPED NEW POPULATIONS AND WILL BE USING MUTANT MAIZE LINES AS WELL TO TRY TO DETERMINE WHAT GENES ARE REALLY CAUSING THE RESISTANCE. THIRD, WE ALSO WANT TO BE ABLE TO MEASURE THE PHENOLIC COMPOUNDS WITHOUT DOING COSTLY AND TIME-CONSUMING WET CHEMISTRY WORK. TO ADDRESS THIS, WE WILL ATTEMPT THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF SPECTRAL-BASED MODELING (GROUND TISSUE, LEAF SCANS, AND DRONE-BASED), USING REFLECTANCE INFORMATION FROM THE LEAVES IN WAVELENGTHS OF LIGHT THAT OUR EYES CANNOT SEE. FINALLY, WE WILL BETRAINING THE NEXT GENERATION OF PLANT BREEDERS THROUGH GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH PROJECTS AND INTEGRATION INTO A HANDS-ON GRADUATE STUDENT RESEARCH-BASED COURSE.