** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** WE PROPOSE TO ESTABLISH A FIVE-YEAR SUMMER RESEARCH EXPERIENCE FOR UNDERGRADUATES IN THE FIELD OF CROP GENOMICS AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY AT EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY (ECU). EACH YEAR, 10 UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS WILL BE RECRUITED AND SELECTED INTO THIS PROGRAM TO PERFORM RESEARCH, WITH A FOCUS ON INVESTIGATING MICRORNA (MIRNA) FUNCTION IN FIVE DIFFERENT PLANT SPECIES TREATED WITH FIVE DIFFERENT ABIOTIC STRESSES, WHICH PERFECTLY FIT INTO THE GOALS OF THE AFRI ELI EDUCATION GRANT PROGRAM. AT LEAST HALF OF THE PARTICIPATING STUDENTS WILL BE UNDERREPRESENTED STUDENTS AND HALF WILL BE FROM OTHER ACADEMIC INSTITUTIONS, MAJORLY LOCAL COMMUNITY COLLEGES AND/OR HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGES OR UNIVERSITIES (HBCUS). EXPERTS AT ECU IN THE FIELD OF PLANT GENOMES AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY PROPOSE TO PROVIDE A RESEARCH PROGRAM OF INTERDISCIPLINARY ACADEMIC EDUCATION, MENTORING, AND RESEARCH-BASED EXPERIMENTAL LEARNING FOR PARTICIPATING UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS.THIS PROPOSED PROGRAM WILL INTEGRATE TEACHING AND RESEARCH TOGETHER TO TRAIN OUR NEXT GENERATION FOR PROMOTING RESEARCH AND EXPERIMENTAL LEARNING FOR OUR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS SUCH THAT UPON GRADUATION THEY MAY ENTER THE AGRICULTURE WORKFORCE WITH EXCEPTIONAL SKILLS OR ENTER GRADUATE SCHOOL WITH AGRICULTURE-RELATED MAJORS, WHICH IS URGENTLY NEEDED IN THE EASTERN NORTH CAROLINA (NC), A MAJOR RURAL AREA IN NC. THIS PROJECT TARGETS THE USDA AFRI CHALLENGE AREA RESILIENT AGROECOSYSTEMS AND FOOD SECURITY; THIS PROJECT WILL ALSO ALIGN WITH USDA AFRI FOUNDATIONAL AREA PLANT HEALTH AND PRODUCTION AND PLANT PRODUCTS FOR PROVIDING FELLOWSHIPS FOR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS IN THIS FIELD. SPECIFICALLY, FOR EDUCATION, WE WILL DEVELOPA LECTURE AND ASSOCIATED LAB, CALLED CROP GENOMICS AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY FOR THIS PROGRAM, IN WHICH WE WILL TRAIN OUR UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS ON BASIC FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE ON THE FIELD OF CROP GENOMICS AND AGRICULTURAL BIOTECHNOLOGY AS WELL AS CUTTING-EDGE HAND ON EXPERIMENTS AND TECHNOLOGY, INCLUDING THE ADVANCED DEEP SEQUENCING AND CRISPR GENE EDITING. ON THE SIDE OF RESEARCH, THE STUDENTS WILL INVESTIGATE THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL STRESS ON CROP DEVELOPMENT AND MIRNA EXPRESSION PROFILES. SPECIFICALLY, WORLDWIDE THE AMOUNT OF ARABLE LAND HAS DECLINED IN RECENT DECADES AS A RESULT OF GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE. ARID CONDITIONS LEAD TO CROP PROBLEMS INCLUDING SALINITY AND DROUGHT STRESS, AND CONTINUE TO THREATEN LAND AVAILABILITY FOR AGRICULTURAL PURPOSES. USING MARGINAL SOILS LESS SUITABLE FOR CROP GROWTH IN MORE AGRICULTURAL PRACTICES HAS MADE THE DEVELOPMENT OF STRESS TOLERANT GERMPLASM AN IMPERATIVE TASK. HOWEVER, GERMPLASM DEVELOPMENT IS HAMPERED BY AN INCOMPLETE UNDERSTANDING OF THE BREADTH OF COPING STRATEGIES OF PLANTS WITH ABIOTIC STRESS. RECENTLY DISCOVERED MIRNAS ARE AN ESSENTIAL REGULATORY MOLECULE IN MANY BIOLOGICAL AND METABOLIC PROCESSES AND THE ROLE OF MIRNAS IN PLANT TOLERANCE TO ABIOTIC STRESS REQUIRES FURTHER RESEARCH. IN THIS FELLOWSHIP PROGRAM, STUDENTS WILL,WORK CLOSELY UNDER THE MENTORSHIP OF THE PD AND OUR MENTORS TO IDENTIFY MIRNAS RESPONSIVE TO ABIOTIC STRESS, AND TO INVESTIGATE THEIR REGULATORY MECHANISMS BY A COMBINATION OF ADVANCED, CUTTING-EDGE METHODOLOGIES. MORE IMPORTANTLY, THIS PROJECT WILL INVESTIGATE THE MIRNA REGULATORY MECHANISMS ACROSS DIFFERENT ABIOTIC STRESSES AMONG FIVE MAJOR PLANT SPECIES. THE ABILITY TO UNDERSTAND MIRNA REGULATORY NETWORKS DURING PLANT GROWTH UNDER STRESS CONDITION WILL EMPOWER FUTURE APPLIED RESEARCH IN CROP BREEDING USING NOVEL MIRNA-BASED BIOTECHNOLOGY BY USING TRANSGENIC AND CRISPR GENOME EDITING TECHNOLOGY.