** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** A GALL IS A TUMOR-LIKE GROWTH ON A PLANT THAT IS INDUCED BY ANOTHER ORGANISM (I.E., BACTERIA, FUNGI, NEMATODE, OR INSECTS). INSECT-INDUCED PLANT GALLS REPRESENT ONE OF THE MOST AMAZING AND COMPLEX INTERSPECIFIC INTERACTIONS IN NATURE, CAPTURING THE INTEREST OF NATURALISTS, ECOLOGISTS AND EVOLUTIONARY BIOLOGISTS FOR CENTURIES. INCREASINGLY, GALL-FORMING INSECTS ALSO ACT AS ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT AGRICULTURAL PESTS, REDUCING CROP YIELDS WORLDWIDE. SURPRISINGLY, THE GENERAL MECHANISMS BEHIND INSECT GALL INDUCTION AND GROWTH ARE UNKNOWN. THIS PROPOSAL AIMS TOUNCOVER THE EVOLUTIONARILY CONSERVED MOLECULAR MECHANISMS OF GALL FORMATIONBY HARNESSING THE GALLING SYSTEM OF CYNIPID WASPS ON LIVE OAKS, IN WHICH MANY SPECIES OF CYNIPIDS SUCCESSFULLY GALL THE SAME PLANT. THIS SYSTEM ALLOWS FOR POWERFUL NATURAL EXPERIMENTS TO TEST THE GENERALITY OF HOW GALLING ORGANISMS MANIPULATE PLANT GENOMES AND TO GENERATE NEW HYPOTHESES FOR INVESTIGATING PLANT CONTROL STRATEGIES AGAINST GALLING HERBIVORES AND OTHER PESTS THAT MANIPULATE HOST PLANT DEFENSE AND IMMUNITY. ADDITIONALLY, GALLING RESEARCH HAS GREAT POTENTIAL FOR THE ADVANCEMENT OF GENETIC ENGINEERING BECAUSE GALL-FORMATION INVOLVES THE SIMULTANEOUS MANIPULATION OF THOUSANDS OF GENES IN THE PLANT - NOT POSSIBLE WITH CURRENT TECHNOLOGIES (E.G., RNAI, CRISPR). THE EGAN LAB AT RICE UNIVERSITY WILL BE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE SAMPLING AND DISSECTION OF INSECT AND PLANT TISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH OUR RESEARCH OBJECTIVES.DURING THE COURSE OF THIS RESEARCH WE WILL CO-HOST A SEMINAR SERIES AND DEVELOP A SERIES OF LABS WITH COLLABORATORS ATTEXAS SOUTHERN UNIVERSITY, A HISTORICALLY BLACK COLLEGE (HBCU); AS WELL AS ACTIVELY PARTICIPATE IN PUBLIC ENGAGEMENT OF SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH IN THE HOUSTON AREA.