** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** ACYLSUGAR-MEDIATED PLANT DEFENSES ARE WELL DOCUMENTED ACROSS SOLANACEAE, AN ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT FAMILY WITH MANY CROP PLANTS. IN FACT, THE TOP TWO MOST-CONSUMED VEGETABLE PLANT PRODUCE IN THE U.S - TOMATOES AND POTATOES - BELONG TO THE SOLANACEAE FAMILY. DEPLOYING ENDOGENOUS ACYLSUGARS AS NATURAL PESTICIDES PROVIDES GREAT OPPORTUNITIES TO MAKE SOLANACEOUS CROP AGRICULTURE SUSTAINABLE. HOWEVER, CULTIVATED TOMATOES AND POTATOES DO NOT PRODUCE THE SAME QUANTITY AND QUALITY (I.E., TYPES) OF ACYLSUGARS AS THEIR WILD RELATIVES. DECADES OF BREEDING EFFORTS ENCOUNTERED THE OBSTACLE THAT MULTIPLE LOCI CONTRIBUTE TO A DESIRED ACYLSUGAR TRAIT IN A COMPLEX MANNER. TO EFFICIENTLY BRING BACK THESE NATURAL DEFENSE TRAITS WITH MOLECULAR BREEDING AND ENGINEERING, A THOROUGH UNDERSTANDING OF ACYLSUGAR BIOSYNTHETIC PATHWAYS IS CRITICAL. NEXT, LITTLE IS KNOWN ABOUT WHICH ACYLSUGAR STRUCTURE HAS THE STRONGEST POTENCY TOWARD CURRENT AGRICULTURAL PESTS, AND WHAT STRUCTURAL MODIFICATION COULD PREPARE CROP PLANTS TO DEFEND AGAINST INVADING FUTURE PESTS. AS ACYLSUGARS CAN ATTRIBUTE UP TO 20% OF DRY LEAF WEIGHT IN TOMATO WILD RELATIVES, IT IS FURTHER CRUCIAL TO IDENTIFY THE MOST POTENT OR COST-EFFICIENT ACYLSUGAR CONFIGURATION TO MITIGATE ANY DETRIMENTAL EFFECT ON CROP YIELD. THIS PROJECT WILL ELUCIDATE THE BIOSYNTHESIS AND ECOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE OF ANTI-HERBIVORY ACYLHEXOSES IN SOLANACEAE BY COMBINING PLANT BIOCHEMISTRY, ANALYTICAL CHEMISTRY, PLANT TRANSFORMATION TO PLANT-INSECT INTERACTION. THE COLLECTIVE KNOWLEDGE OBTAINED THROUGH THIS RESEARCH WILL PROVIDE A FUNDAMENTAL UNDERSTANDING ABOUT MOLECULAR MECHANISMS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO ACYLSUGAR SUGAR CORE DIVERSITY AS WELL AS EVOLUTION-GUIDED TARGET METABOLITES AND GENES FOR BREEDING NATIVE AND EFFECTIVE PESTICIDES.