** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** THE IGNITE CAREER PROJECT WILL SHED LIGHT ON A FUNDAMENTAL QUESTION IN BIOLOGY: HOW DOES MICROBIAL WARFARE LEAD TO ECOLOGICAL SUCCESS OF PATHOGENS? IMPORTANTLY, THIS PROJECT DEVELOPS FOUNDATIONAL KNOWLEDGE IN ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT PLANT PATHOGENS. THESE PLANT PATHOGENS CAUSE DEVASTATING EPIDEMICS OF WILT DISEASE ON CROPS THAT ARE MAJOR COMPONENTS OF THE AMERICAN DIET, INCLUDING POTATO, TOMATO, BANANA, AND PEANUT. THESE WILT PATHOGENS ARE MORE THAN JUST THREATS TO FOOD SECURITY; THEY ARE COMPLEX ORGANISMS WITH EXTENSIVE WARFARE STRATEGIES. TO PIONEER UNDERSTANDING THEIR INTRICATE WARFARE MECHANISMS, THIS PROJECT LEVERAGES INNOVATIVE COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSES AND SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY METHODOLOGIES TO STUDY THEIR 'WEAPONS'--TOXINS--AT EVERY LEVEL, FROM THE SMALLEST MOLECULE TO THEIR IMPACT ON ENTIRE ECOSYSTEMS. THE IGNITE PROJECT HAS SIGNIFICANT SOCIETAL BENEFITS--IT ESTABLISHES A CUTTING-EDGE STEM EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM, THE IGNITE CURE, THAT PROVIDES HANDS-ON RESEARCH EXPERIENCE TO UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, WITH AN EMPHASIS ON COMMUNITY COLLEGE TRANSFER STUDENTS AND ADDITIONAL GROUPS THAT ARE HISTORICALLY UNDERREPRESENTED IN STEM PROFESSIONS. THIS INITIATIVE WILL PREPARE THE NEXT GENERATION OF SCIENTISTS, EQUIPPING THEM WITH THE TECHNICAL AND ESSENTIAL SOFT SKILLS THAT WILL EMPOWER THEM TO TACKLE EMERGING PLANT HEALTH AND PUBLIC HEALTH CHALLENGES. STUDENTS WILL GAIN CRITICAL THINKING SKILLS AND GAIN CONFIDENCE IN ANALYZING BIG-DATA (POPULATION GENOMIC DATA RELEVANT TO PLANT EPIDEMICS). MOREOVER, THE DATA FROM THE CURE WILL BE OPENLY AND RAPIDLY SHARED ON THE NATIONAL GENOMIC DATABASE, NCBI, BENEFITTING NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SURVEILLANCE PROGRAMS TO PREDICT AND MITIGATE EMERGING PLANT PATHOGENS. OVERALL, THE IGNITE CAREER PROJECT PROMOTES TWO MAJOR DOMESTIC INTERESTS: FOOD SECURITY AND THE EDUCATION OF EMERGING SCIENTISTS.