COTTON IS PRIMARILY GROWN AND HARVESTED FOR THE LINT, WHICH HAS BEEN THE FOCUS OF COTTON RESEARCH AND BREEDING EFFORTS OVER MANY DECADES, LEAVING SEED TRAITS NEGLECTED. OUR SHORT TO MEDIUM TERM GOALS ARE TO FUNCTIONALLY CHARACTERIZE THE GENE FUNCTIONS OF CANDIDATE GENES UNDERLYING COTTONSEED OIL, PROTEIN, AND FIBER QUALITY TRAITS, AND TO DEVELOP AND RELEASE NOVEL GENETIC VARIATIONS AS BREEDING GERMPLASM FOR THESE CRITICAL TRAITS. OUR VISION IS TO DEVELOP A JOINT FIBER AND SEED COTTON PRODUCTION SYSTEM TO MAXIMIZE THE VALUE FROM BOTH PLANT PRODUCTS WHILE INCORPORATING DURABLE GENETIC RESISTANCE TO FOV4, THE #1 DISEASE THREAT TO UPLAND COTTON. THESE OUTCOMES WILL DIRECTLY BENEFIT BREEDERS, GROWERS, AND ALLIED SCIENTISTS THAT TRANSECT THE PUBLIC/PRIVATE/NON-PROFIT INDUSTRIES. OUR IMMEDIATE GOALS ARE TO DIRECT THESE OUTCOMES FOR FARMING OPERATIONS TO BE MORE PROFITABLE, RESILIENT, AND SUSTAINABLE. IN THE LONGER TERM, THIS PROJECT WILL DEVELOP A FOUNDATION THAT CAN LEAD TO THE PRODUCTION OF DESIGNER COTTONSEED WITH IMPROVED NUTRITIONAL BENEFITS AND ENHANCED FUNCTIONAL PROPERTIES THAT WILL ADD MORE VALUE TO THIS BYPRODUCT OF FIBER PRODUCTION, WHILE IMPROVING FIBER QUALITY TRAITS TO BE COMPETITIVE WITH SYNTHETIC FIBERS. OUR ULTIMATE GOAL IS TO LEVERAGE OUR WEALTH OF GENOMIC RESOURCES TO DEVELOP A HIGH-YIELDING UPLAND VARIETY WITH THE FIBER QUALITY TRAITS OF PIMA COTTONS.