** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** ONE THIRD OF THE GLOBAL CORN SUPPLY IS PRODUCED IN THE UNITED STATES, MAKING MAIZE THE LARGEST AMERICAN AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT. FUNGAL PATHOGENS ARE A MAJOR THREAT TO THE PRODUCTION OF THIS CROP BY CAUSING ROT AND PRODUCING TOXIC COMPOUNDS. CORN SHOWING SIGNS OF FUNGAL PATHOGEN GROWTH ARE DISCARDED, BUT LEVELS OF THESE COMPOUNDS ABOVE THE ACCEPTED SAFE THRESHOLD HAVE BEEN DETECTED IN RECENT STUDIES. THIS IMPLIES THAT NOT ONLY CAN THERE BE A DECREASED CROP YIELD FROM THESE TOXIC FUNGI, BUT THAT THERE ARE STILL TRACES OF TOXINS THAT MAKE IT INTO THE FOOD SUPPLY. ADDITIONALLY, LOWER CROP YIELD MAY RESULT IN HIGHER COSTS OF CORN PRODUCTS, INCLUDING ANIMAL FEED. THIS MAY CAUSE AN ECONOMIC RIPPLE EFFECT AS HIGHER ANIMAL FEED COSTS MAY LEAD TO INCREASED COSTS OF MEAT AND ANIMAL PRODUCTS. THESE ARE SIGNIFICANT CONSEQUENCES FOR THE GENERAL CONSUMER.THE FUNGUS SAROCLADIUM ZEAE GROWS WITHIN CORN AND PRODUCES ANTIBACTERIAL COMPOUNDS, PYRROCIDINES, THAT NATURALLY INHIBIT THE PRODUCTION OF THE TOXIC COMPOUNDS. BESIDES PYRROCIDINES, MOST COMPOUNDS PROPAGATED BY S. ZEAE ARE NOT KNOWN. THE NATURAL INHIBITION OF THE HARMFUL FUNGI MAKES S. ZEAE AN ATTRACTIVE CANDIDATE FOR A BIOCONTROL AGENT. HOWEVER, IT MUST FIRST BE ESTABLISHED THAT THERE ARE NO TOXINS PRODUCED BY S. ZEAE THAT SIMPLY HAVE NOT BEEN DISCOVERED YET. AS IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO TEST EVERY SINGLE POSSIBLE SET OF GROWING CONDITIONS, ANALYSIS OF NATURAL PRODUCT-PRODUCING SUBSETS OF ITS FUNGAL DNA WILL BE DONE INSTEAD. THESE OTHERWISE INACTIVE DNA SUBSETS WILL BE ACTIVATED WITH GENETIC MODIFICATION IN A FUNGAL HOST, THE MODIFIED FUNGUS WILL BE GROWN, AND THE NEW COMPOUNDS WILL BE IDENTIFIED. ONCE IDENTIFIED, THE POTENTIAL TOXICITY OF THE COMPOUNDS CAN BE DETERMINED, BEGINNING TO ANSWER THE QUESTION OF WHETHER S. ZEAE CAN BE APPLIED AS A TARGETED BIOCONTROL AGENT IN THE GROWTH OF CORN.