** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** WHILE ZOYSIAGRASSES ARE RECOGNIZED FOR THEIR LOW INPUT REQUIREMENTS AND SEEDED CULTIVARS ARE PREFERRED BY THE INDUSTRY FOR THEIR COST-EFFECTIVENESS AND EASE OF DISTRIBUTION, A LACK OF UNDERSTANDING ON THE GENETIC COMPONENTS UNDERLYING SEED YIELD, DORMANCY AND GERMINATION HAVE HINDERED BREEDING EFFORTS. SEVERAL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PROGRAMS HAVE BEEN WORKING ON THE DEVELOPMENT OF SEEDED CULTIVARS; HOWEVER, TO DATE ONLY TWO SEEDED CULTIVARS ARE COMMERCIALLY AVAILABLE. IN THIS PROJECT, WE AIM TO DEVELOP A DIVERSITY PANEL FOR ZOYSIAGRASS CONSISTING OF APPROXIMATELY 250 GENOTYPES TO 1) UNDERSTAND RANGES OF GENETIC VARIATION FOR SEED TRAITS, 2) INCREASEOUR UNDERSTANDING ON THE GENETIC COMPONENTS OF SEED YIELD AND GERMINATION, AND 3) INITIATE DEVELOPMENT OF HIGH-THROUGHPUT PHENOTYPING TOOLS. WE WILL PERFORM GENOME SEQUENCING AND SNP CALLING ON THIS DIVERSITY PANEL. ADDITIONALLY, WE WILL PERFORM EXTENSIVE PHENOTYPING ON SEED TRAITS, INCLUDING GERMINATION RATES, UNDER CONTROLLED AND FIELD CONDITIONS. GENOTYPIC AND PHENOTYPIC DATA WILL BE COMBINED IN A GENOME WIDE ASSOCIATION STUDY TO IDENTIFY GENETIC COMPONENTS UNDERLYING SEED YIELD AS WELL AS GERMINATION EFFICIENCY. ADDITIONALLY, WE WILL INVESTIGATE THE USE OF IMAGING AND MACHINE LEARNING TECHNIQUES FOR COUNTING SEEDHEADS AND SEEDS. DATA GENERATED IN THIS STUDYWILL PROVIDE A FOUNDATIONAL UNDERSTANDING OF THE COMPONENTS OF YIELD THAT COULD BE USED BY BREEDERS FOR MAKING INFORMED AND MORE TARGETED SELECTION DECISIONS IN BREEDING FOR SEEDED ZOYSIAGRASS CULTIVARS.