CURRENT ISSUES:CORN IS A GLOBALLY GROWN CEREAL CROP WITH AN ESTIMATED ANNUAL VALUE OF $243 BILLION. SWEET CORN IS AN IMPORTANT AND POPULAR VEGETABLE CROP IN THE US AND AROUND THE WORLD, VALUED AT $2.92 BILLION AND RISING. SWEET CORN IS HARVESTED AT THE "MILK STAGE", WHICH IS AROUND 20 DAYS AFTER POLLINATION WHEN KERNELS ARE SOFT AND SUCCULENT. THERE ARE PERCEIVED SENSATIONS CONSUMERS LOOK FOR WHEN EATING SWEET CORN: KERNEL TENDERNESS, SWEETNESS, AND CREAMY TEXTURE. KERNEL SWEETNESS IS PRIMARILY INFLUENCED BY SUGAR COMPOSITION WHILE THE CREAMY TEXTURE IS INFLUENCED BY STARCH COMPOSITION IN THE KERNEL. THE NEARLY $3 BILLION SWEET CORN MARKET IS BASED LARGELY ON THREE MUTANTS AFFECTING SUGAR AND STARCH COMPOSITION - SUGARY1 (SU1), SUGARY ENHANCER1 (SE1), AND SHURNKEN2 (SH2). SWEET CORNS CONTAINING THE SH2 MUTATION ARE SUPER SWEET BUT HAVE A GRITTY KERNEL TEXTURE. SWEET CORNS CONTAINING THE SU1 MUTATION ARE LESS SWEET THAN SH2 BASED SWEET CORNS BUT DO RETAIN THE DESIRABLE CREAMY KERNEL TEXTURE. CROP BREEDER COMBINED THE SU1 AND SE1 MUTATION TO GENERATE SU1SE1 BASED SWEET CORNS THAT ARE SUPER SWEET WITH CREAMY KERNEL TEXTURE. IT IS UNCLEAR HOW THE SE1 MUTATION IMPROVES SWEETNESS WHILE RETAINING THE CREAMY KERNEL TEXTURE WHEN COMBINED WITH THE SU1 MUTATION. A RESEARCH OBJECTIVE IS TO UNDERSTAND THE FUNCTION OF SE1 AND HOW IT AFFECTS SUGAR AND STARCH COMPOSITION. ANOTHER RESEARCH OBJECTIVE IS TO IDENTIFY ADDITIONAL GENES LIKE SE1 THAT CAN BE USED IN SWEET CORN BREEDING EFFORTS TO IMPROVE SUGAR AND STARCH COMPOSITION, GENERATING NEW SWEET CORN VARIETIES THAT ARE MARKETABLE.UNDERSTANDING STARCH COMPOSITION IN SWEET CORN ALSO HAVE IMPLICATIONS FOR IMPROVING HUMAN HEALTH. STARCH-DERIVED FROM CEREAL CROPS ARE MAJOR COMPONENTS OF DAILY CALORIC INTAKE ACROSS THE GLOBE. HOWEVER, THE INCREASE IN CONSUMPTION OF STARCH-BASED PRODUCT HAS LED TO GLOBAL HEALTH ISSUES SUCH AS OBESITY AND TYPE II DIABETES. IDENTIFICATION OF NEW GENES FROM THIS RESEARCH MAY BE USEFUL FOR ENHANCING DIETARYSTARCH COMPOSITION IN CORN KERNELS AND OTHER CEREAL GRAINS TO IMPROVE HUMAN HEALTH.METHODS AND APPROACHES:SE1 IS CONSIDERED AS MODIFIER GENE WHERE THE GENE ALONE IS NOT SUFFICIENT TO INDUCE A MUTANT PHENOTYPE BUT IT CAN ENHANCE OR EXACERBATE A MUTANT PHENOTYPE WHEN COMBINED WITH. TO IDENTIFY THE ROLE OF SE1, WE WILL PRODUCE THE PROTEIN AND ISOLATE THE PROTEIN FOR ANALYSIS. IN ADDITION, ATTEMPTS WILL BE MADE TO IDENTIFY ADDITIONAL CANDIDATE PROTEINS THAT INTERACTS WITH SE1. UNKNOWN PROTEINS WILL BE SEQUENCED TO IDENTIFY THE CORRELATING GENE. COLLECTIVELY, THIS WILL GIVE CLUES ABOUT THE BIOLOGICAL FUNCTION OF SE1 AND HOW IT AFFECTS STARCH COMPOSITIONS.TO IDENTIFY ADDITIONAL MODIFIER GENES SIMILAR TO SE1, SU1 SWEET CORN WILL BE CHEMICALLY MUTAGENIZED TO INDUCE RANDOM MUTATIONS IN THE DNA. OFFSPRINGS WILL BE ANALYZED TO IDENTIFY NEW MUTANTS. KERNEL SUGAR AND STARCH COMPOSITIONS OF THE NEW MUTANTS WILL BE CHEMICALLY ANALYZED AND COMPARED THE VALUES OF SU1 SWEET CORN. MUTANTS THAT ARE VERIFIED TO HAVE ALTERED SUGAR AND STARCH COMPOSITIONS WILL BE DNA SEQUENCED TO IDENTIFY THE MUTATION.RESULTS FROM THIS RESEARCH WILL BE PUBLISHED IN SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS TO DISSEMINATE THE INFORMATION.ULTIMATE GOALS:THE RESULTS FROM THIS RESEARCH WILL BE BENEFICIAL FOR SWEET CORN BREEDERS AND FARMERS. SWEET CORN BREEDERS CAN UTILIZE THE RESULTS FROM THIS RESEARCH TO BREED NEW SWEET CORN VARIETIES THAT ARE DESIRABLE BY CONSUMERS. SWEET CORN FARMERS CAN TRIAL NEW SWEET CORN VARIETIES THAT ARE MORE MARKETABLE TOO. DISCOVERY OF NEW MODIFIER GENES INVOLVED IN STARCH COMPOSITION MAY BE USED FOR BREEDING NEW CORN VARIETIES WITH INCREASED DIETARY STARCH COMPOSITION. THIS MAY HELP DECREASE HEALTH ISSUES LIKE OBESITY.