** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** OAT IS A HEALTHFUL CEREAL CROP THAT IS WIDELY GROWN FOR FOOD AND USE IN CONSUMER SKIN CARE PRODUCTS. THE HEALTH-PROMOTING PROPERTIES OF OATS ARE DUE TO MANY DIFFERENT COMPOUNDS, INCLUDING AVENANTHRAMIDES, ANTIOXIDANTS FOUND ALMOST EXCLUSIVELY IN OATS. IN ADDITION TO CONTRIBUTING TO CONSUMER WELL-BEING, AVENANTHRAMIDES ALSO SERVE AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN OAT PRODUCTION BECAUSE THEY ARE IMPLICATED IN REDUCING SEVERITY OF PLANT DISEASE OUTBREAKS. AVENANTHRAMIDES ARE THUS IMPORTANT, MULTI-FUNCTIONAL COMPOUNDS IN OATS. HOWEVER, AVENANTHRAMIDE CONCENTRATIONS ARE HIGHLY VARIABLE ACROSS ENVIRONMENTS, CREATING A CHALLENGE FOR PLANT BREEDERS TO RELIABLY INCREASE CONCENTRATION AND FOR GROWERS TO PREDICTABLY HARVEST HIGH AVENANTHRAMIDE OATS. THIS PROJECT ADDRESSES THAT CHALLENGE BY DEVELOPING NEW PLANT BREEDING AND MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES TO FINE-TUNE OAT AVENANTHRAMIDE PRODUCTION. SPECIFICALLY, THIS PROJECT WILL TEST HOW PURPOSELY ACTIVATING PLANT IMMUNE RESPONSES - THE CHANGES IN EXPRESSION OF GENES AND BIOCHEMICAL PATHWAYS IN RESPONSE TO A BIOLOGICAL STRESS - CAN LEAD TO MORE CONSISTENT AVENANTHRAMIDE PRODUCTION IN ORDER TO TO IMPROVE OAT NUTRITIONAL QUALITY AND DISEASE RESISTANCE. THIS PROJECT WILL EVALUATE HOW AVENANTHRAMIDE BIOSYNTHESIS CHANGES IN RESPONSE TO IMMUNE ACTIVATION USING GENOME SEQUENCE, GENE EXPRESSION, AND BIOCHEMICAL PATHWAY ANALYSIS. IMPORTANTLY, OATS WILL ALSO BE EVALUATED UNDER FIELD CONDITIONS OF HIGH DISEASE PRESSURE AND ACROSS MULTIPLE GEOGRAPHIC LOCATIONS TO PINPOINT FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO AVENANTHRAMIDE VARIABILITY AND THE DEGREE TO WHICH VARIABILITY MAY BE MITIGATED BY IMMUNE ACTIVATION. OVERALL, THE GOAL OF THIS PROJECT IS TO IMPROVE OAT PERFORMANCE (DISEASE RESISTANCE) AND GRAIN NUTRITIONAL QUALITY (ANTIOXIDANTS) THROUGH ENHANCING AVENANTHRAMIDE LEVELS. IMPROVING CONSISTENCY AND OUTPUT OF AVENANTHRAMIDES BENEFITS OAT GROWERS, PROCESSORS AND CONSUMERS BY EXPANDING OAT CULTIVATIONAND INCREASING ACCESS TO HEALTH-PROMOTING OAT VARIETIES. FINALLY, TARGETING AVENANTHRAMIDES AND IMMUNE RESPONSES IN PLANT BREEDING IS AN INNOVATIVE APPROACH TO BREEDING FOR DISEASE RESISTANCE, AND WILL SERVE AS A TEMPLATE FOR SIMILAR EFFORTS IN OTHER CROPS.