Our laboratory seeks to initiate structural and functional genomics studies in strawberry with the long-term goal of cultivar improvement. There are over 7000 acres of strawberries planted in Florida, which has an ideal climate to produce early-season fruit. Growers are faced with many challenges throughout the production process, and the current phase out of methyl bromide and consolidation in the grocery industry only augment these barriers. Cultivated strawberry is octoploid, so standard breeding of desirable traits is difficult. Still, the current cultivars possess outstanding characteristics, and will provide an excellent basis for molecular studies of gene expression and future genetic modification to adjust traits of importance. In association with the Genome Database for Rosaceae at Clemson University we have initiated project ShORTCAkE, an effort use bioinformatics to characterize and catalog sequence information from cultivated strawberry. This community resource has led to the initiation of studies to dissect structural and functional genomics questions in strawberry while also providing a means to develop molecular markers and address specific biological questions and grower concerns.  We will implement this information in transgenic studies to further characterize the molecular mechanisms behind agriculturally-relevant traits.