ANNUAL CROP LOSS DUE TO PLANT DISEASES ARE ESTIMATED WORLDWIDE AT $60 BILLION AND VIRUSES ARE THE SECOND GREATEST CONTRIBUTOR TO YIELD LOSS. PLANT VIRUSES ARE TYPICALLY NOT AFFORDED THE LUXURY OF A MOBILE HOST TO FACILITATE THEIR PROPAGATION AND THUS THEY RELY ON INSECT VECTORS FOR EFFICIENT TRANSMISSION. THERE IS A DYNAMIC INTERPLAY BETWEEN THE PLANT HOST, THE VIRUS AND THE INSECT VECTOR AND IT IS IMPERATIVE TO UNDERSTAND ALL FACETS OF THIS SYNERGISTIC SYSTEM. MY WORK IS FOCUSED ON LUTEOVIRIDS WHICH ARE TRANSMITTED EXCLUSIVELY BY SAP SUCKING APHIDS AND THREATEN STAPLE FOOD CROPS SUCH AS MAIZE, WHEAT, OATS, BARLEY AND MANY ECONOMICALLY IMPORTANT SOLANACEOUS PLANTS. THE VIRION CIRCULATES THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE BODY OF THE APHID YET DOES NOT INFECT, REPLICATE OR UNCOAT WITHIN INSECT TISSUES MEANING THAT ALL THE INFORMATION NECESSARY FOR TRANSMISSION BETWEEN PLANTS CAN BE PINPOINTED BACK TO THE VIRUS CAPSID PROTEIN COMPONENTS. CONVENTIONAL CONTROL STRATEGIES ARE LIMITED IN SCOPE AS MITIGATING APHID POPULATIONS HAS PROVED INEFFECTUAL AND DELETERIOUS TO GLOBAL HEALTH, AND BREEDING RESISTANT CROPS HAS BEEN NEARLY IMPOSSIBLE. MY OBJECTIVE IS TO DETERMINE THE EXACT COMPONENTS OF THE VIRAL PARTICLE THAT ENABLE TRANSMISSION AND HOW IT MOVES THROUGH THE APHID BETWEEN INFECTED CROPS BY USING A VARIETY OF STRUCTURAL AND CELL BIOLOGY METHODS. THIS INFORMATION WILL INFORM NOVEL CROP CONTROL STRATEGIES TO DISRUPT VIRAL TRANSMISSION. GIVEN THE SIMILARITIES IN THE CIRCULATIVE TRANSPORT PATHWAY FOR VIRAL AND BACTERIAL PATHOGENS, CREATING A TOOLKIT TO VISUALIZE PROTEIN INTERACTIONS IN INSECT VECTORS CAN BE READILY APPLIED TO UNDERSTANDING VECTOR PATHOGEN INTERACTIONS AND VIRAL TRANSMISSION IN OTHER PARASITIC INTERACTIONS.