The project aims to understand the interplay between oil and starch biosynthesis during endosperm development in oat seed with the goal of using the gained knowledge to modify starchy energy crops.  Cereals and tuberous crops yield significantly more biomass than oilseed crops providing a unique opportunity to generate dual-use energy crops that can provide both a high-energy density biodiesel fraction while preserving the starch component that is an essential feedstock for the starch-based ethanol industry.  Oat seed has evolved the unique ability to store the fixed carbons as a commingled fraction of oil and starch within developing endosperm.   By using oat seed as a model system, the molecular switches of carbon allocation  can be elucidated, thereby opening the possibility to redirect carbon flux from starch to oil in cereals and tubers through genetic engineering. Data discussed will detail carbon portioning between oil and starch at different developmental stages of endosperm, in conjunction with bioinformatics complexities and strategies concerning 454 pyrosequencing of oat endosperm transcripts.  The efficacy of a novel method of gene silencing within oat endosperm will also be presented.