2006 Annual Report 4d.Progress report. This report serves to document research conducted under a reimbursable cooperative agreement (58-3622-6-411) between ARS and Clemson University. Additional details of this research can be found in the report for the parent project 3622-21000-024-00D, "Breeding and Molecular Genetics of Corn." The agreement was initiated in mid-February of 2006 with the specific objectives of;. 1)Utilize a known FLO/LFY gene fragment isolated from Bent Grass genomic DNA as a tool to generate the complete sequence of the FLO/LFY gene, and. 2)To isolate the promoter from the Bent Grass FLO/LFY gene, and to test its ability to direct floral meristem specific gene expression in plants. Our initial focus was to establish Bent Grass populations and isolate highly pure genomic DNA preparations for the various strategies for gene isolation. We were successful in both establishing the plants and isolating pure DNA. We have made several attempts to generate the FLO/LFY genomic sequence directly from Bent Grass genomic DNA using a PCR procedure based on comparative sequence data for FLO/LFY genes from other monocots. This has not proved successful as of yet. We have initiated two other strategies to accomplish out first goal: the use of GeneWalker, a commercial product that involves the construction of a liquid phase genomic library, and inverse PCR. We are currently optimizing the methods and designing primers to ensure our success. The project is still in its early stages and progress is expected. The impact of this research will be in increasing our ability to prevent the escape of transgenes into the environment.