**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** URUSHIOL IS A HIGH-VALUE NATURAL PRODUCT COATING AND ADHESIVE SUITABLE FOR A VARIETY OF INDUSTRIAL CHEMICAL APPLICATIONS. IN EAST ASIA, URUSHIOL IS HARVESTED FROM THE JAPANESE LACQUER TREE, AND USED FOR OVER 1,000 YEARS AS A HIGH LUSTER LACQUER COATING OF WOODEN OBJECTS. MORE RECENTLY, URUSHIOL IS DEMONSTRATED TO HAVE MANY ADVANCED MATERIAL SCIENCE APPLICATIONS. THE ADOPTION OF URUSHIOL AS AN INDUSTRIAL-SCALE THERMOSET POLYMER IS LIMITED BY ITS PRODUCTION FROM THE SLOW GROWING JAPANESE LACQUER TREE. HOWEVER, URUSHIOL IS ALSO PRODUCED BY POISON IVY IN NORTH AMERICA.THIS PROJECT WILL USE POISON IVY AS A MODEL URUSHIOL-PRODUCING LIANA TO DEVELOP FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT THE LATE METABOLIC STEPS IN URUSHIOL BIOSYNTHESIS. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 1 WILL USE TRANSCRIPTIONAL PROFILING OF DIVERSE POISON IVY TISSUES TO DEVELOP SELF-ORGANIZING MAPS OF COORDINATELY EXPRESSED GENES, IN ORDER TO IDENTIFY AN ENSEMBLE OF GENES LIKELY INVOLVED IN URUSHIOL BIOSYNTHESIS. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 2 WILL FOCUS ON THE EXPRESSION OF RECOMBINANT POISON IVY ENZYMES RESPONSIBLE FOR EITHER THE DIRECT CONVERSION OF ANACARDIC ACID TO URUSHIOL, OR THE SEQUENTIAL CONVERSION OF ANACARDIC ACID TO CARDANOL AND THEN CARDANOL TO URUSHIOL. RESEARCH OBJECTIVE 3 WILL USE REVERSE GENETICS IN TRANSGENIC POISON IVY HAIRY ROOT CULTURES TO DEMONSTRATE THAT THE ABOVE GENES AND ENZYMES ARE ESSENTIAL FOR URUSHIOL PRODUCTION IN PLANTA.THE FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE ABOUT URUSHIOL BIOSYNTHESIS PRODUCED BY THIS PROJECT WILL ENABLE THE FUTURE USE OF SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY TO CREATE AN ASSORTMENT OF BOTH AGRICULTURAL-BASED AND MICROBIAL-BASED URUSHIOL PRODUCTION PLATFORMS TO SUPPORT A POST-PETROCHEMICAL BIO-SUSTAINABLE MATERIAL MANUFACTURING ECONOMY.