** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** IN THE U.S. INDUSTRIAL HEMP (I.E. CANNABIS SATIVA VARIETIES PRODUCING &LT;0.3% TOTAL THC AS OPPOSED TO DRUG-TYPE OR 'MARIJUANA' VARIETIES) HAS DEEP ROOTS AS AN INTEGRAL PART OF THE EARLY ECONOMY SUPPORTING THE PRODUCTION OF TEXTILES ROPE PAPER ETC. HOWEVER U.S. HEMP RESEARCH AND PRODUCTION WERE VIRTUALLY ERADICATED IN THE EARLY 20TH CENTURY BUT HAVE SINCE BEEN REINVIGORATED FOLLOWING ITS LEGALIZATION BY THE 2014 AND 2018 FARM BILLS. DUE TO PROLONGED PROHIBITION HEMP HAS LOST NEARLY 100 YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT COMPARED TO OTHER MAJOR CROPS. STILL THERE IS STRONG POTENTIAL FOR A GROWING HEMP INDUSTRY TO MAKE SIGNIFICANT CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE U.S. BIOECONOMY AND GDP PER CAPITA. THIS IS BECAUSE OF THE VARIETY OF INDUSTRIES HEMP CAN SUPPORT: CONSTRUCTION LIVESTOCK FEED/BEDDING NUTRITION SUPPLEMENTS ESSENTIAL OIL MEDICINE FOOD PLASTIC ALTERNATIVES AND BODY CARE. THE LIMITED UNDERSTANDING AND DEVELOPMENT OF INDUSTRIAL HEMP THAT PERSISTS GLOBALLY HIGHLIGHTS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR THE GROWTH OF THE U.S. BIOECONOMY AND TO BECOME A GLOBAL LEADER IN HEMP PRODUCTION AND RESEARCH.HOWEVER MUCH OF THE GENETIC DIVERSITY IN HEMP REMAINS UNSAMPLED LIMITING OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE GENETIC VARIATION AVAILABLE FOR CROP IMPROVEMENT. HEMP IS A DIOECIOUS (I.E. SEPARATE MALE AND FEMALE PLANTS) CROP EXHIBITING EXTREME GENETIC VARIABILITY AND COMPLEX (X/Y) SEX CHROMOSOMES WHICH PRESENTS CHALLENGES IN COMPUTATIONAL ANALYSES AND HINDERS THE DEVELOPMENT OF EFFICIENT MOLECULAR MARKERS THAT COULD BE USED FOR GENETIC SELECTION AND CROP IMPROVEMENT. KNOWLEDGE OF AGRICULTURALLY IMPORTANT GENES IN HEMP IS GENERALLY LACKING. STILL IT IS ESPECIALLY THE CASE FOR PLANT TRAITS LINKED TO SEX CHROMOSOMES WHICH ARE IMPORTANT BECAUSE DIFFERENT SEX-SPECIFIC TRAITS ARE PREFERRED BY GROWERS: MALES (XY) PRODUCE FIBER BETTER FOR TEXTILES WHEREAS FEMALES (XX) PRODUCE 'GRAIN' (FOR FOOD/OIL) AND FLOWERS ENRICHED WITH MEDICINAL COMPOUNDS.THIS PROJECT AIMS TO ACCELERATE THE ESTABLISHMENT OF HEMP AS A USEFUL SUSTAINABLE CROP AND AN IMPORTANT U.S. COMMODITY BY LEVERAGING THE USDA HEMP GERMPLASM COLLECTION AND CUTTING-EDGE DNA-SEQUENCING TECHNIQUES TO ADDRESS THE ABOVEMENTIONED ISSUES. GERMPLASMS ARE IMPORTANT SOURCES OF GENETIC VARIATION BUT THE USDA HEMP GERMPLASM COLLECTION IS LARGELY UNCHARACTERIZED PRESENTING LIMITED VALUE FOR PLANT BREEDING. THE USDA HEMP GERMPLASM COLLECTION CONTAINS HUNDREDS OF UNIQUE HEMP LINES INCLUDING SOME FROM U.S. FERAL POPULATIONS AND ITS DIVERSITY HOTSPOT IN ASIA BOTH OF WHICH ARE UNDERREPRESENTED IN PREVIOUS GENOMIC SAMPLING EFFORTS DESPITE THEIR POTENTIAL CONTRIBUTIONS TO CROP IMPROVEMENT. THROUGH THIS PROJECT I WILL GENERATE AND ANALYZE A MASSIVE GENOMIC DATASET COMPOSED OF THE FULL ARRAY OF GENETIC DIVERSITY AVAILABLE IN THE USDA HEMP GERMPLASM COLLECTION RESULTING IN INVALUABLE DATA/RESULTS THAT WILL BE MADE AVAILABLE TO BREEDING PROGRAMS AND OTHER HEMP STAKEHOLDERS. I WILL ALSO LEVERAGE THESE RESULTING DATA TO DISCOVER GENE VARIANTS TIED TO AGRICULTURALLY IMPORTANT PLANT TRAITS WHICH WILL BENEFIT MOLECULAR MARKER DEVELOPMENT FOR GENETIC SELECTION AND CROP IMPROVEMENT.