Auburn University System

BACKGROUND: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic profoundly affected food systems including food security. Understanding how the COVID-19 pandemic impacted food security is important to provide support and identify long-term impacts and needs. OBJECTIVE: The National Food Access and COVID research Team (NFACT) was formed to assess food security over different US study sites throughout the pandemic, using common instruments and measurements. This study presents results from 18 study sites across 15 states and nationally over the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: A validated survey instrument was developed and implemented in whole or part through an online survey of adults across the sites throughout the first year of the pandemic, representing 22 separate surveys. Sampling methods for each study site were convenience, representative, or high-risk targeted. Food security was measured using the USDA 6-item module. Food security prevalence was analyzed using ANOVA by sampling method to assess statistically significant differences. RESULTS: = 27,168) indicate higher prevalence of food insecurity (low or very low food security) since the COVID-19 pandemic, compared with before the pandemic. In nearly all study sites, there is a higher prevalence of food insecurity among Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), households with children, and those with job disruptions. The findings demonstrate lingering food insecurity, with high prevalence over time in sites with repeat cross-sectional surveys. There are no statistically significant differences between convenience and representative surveys, but a statistically higher prevalence of food insecurity among high-risk compared with convenience surveys. CONCLUSIONS: This comprehensive study demonstrates a higher prevalence of food insecurity in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. These impacts were prevalent for certain demographic groups, and most pronounced for surveys targeting high-risk populations. Results especially document the continued high levels of food insecurity, as well as the variability in estimates due to the survey implementation method.

Five feeding regimens, using four restriction levels and full feed, were tested to determine the effects of feed restriction on reproductive performance of broiler breeders. At 31, 39, and 52 weeks of age, females were artificially inseminated on two consecutive days with .05 cc semen from males of the same age, and eggs were collected for 9 days and incubated at each production period. In general, females that received the higher levels of feed exhibited lower egg production, lower fertility, and hatchability, heavier body and egg weights, and poorer shell quality. Fertility, shell quality, and production were not influenced by feeding regimens at 31 weeks of age; whereas, feeding regimens significantly affected these traits at 39 and 52 weeks of age.

BACKGROUND: The current study assessed the feasibility of a mentored home-based vegetable gardening intervention and examined changes in health-related outcomes among breast cancer survivors (BCS). METHODS: BCS were randomized to either a year-long vegetable gardening intervention to begin immediately or a wait-list control. Master Gardeners mentored participants in planning, planting, and maintaining 3 seasonal gardens over the course of 1 year. Participant accrual, retention, and satisfaction rates of ≥80% served as feasibility (primary outcome) benchmarks. Secondary outcomes (ie, vegetable consumption, physical activity, performance and function, anthropometrics, biomarkers, and health-related quality of life) were collected at baseline and post-intervention (1-year follow-up) using subjective and objective measures. RESULTS: The trial surpassed all feasibility benchmarks at 82% of targeted accrual, 95% retention, and 100% satisfaction (ie, experience ratings of "good to excellent" and willingness to "do it again"). Compared with the controls, intervention participants reported significantly greater improvements in moderate physical activity (+14 vs -17 minutes/week) and demonstrated improvements in the 2-Minute Step Test (+22 vs + 10 steps), and Arm Curl (+2.7 vs + 0.1 repetitions) (P values < .05). A trend toward improved vegetable consumption was observed (+0.9 vs + 0.2 servings/day; P = .06). Approximately 86% of participants were continuing to garden at the 2-year follow-up. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the current study suggest that a mentored, home-based vegetable gardening intervention is feasible and offers an integrative and durable approach with which to improve health behaviors and outcomes among BCS. Harvest for Health led to the establishment of a group of trained Master Gardeners and gave rise to local and global community-based programs. Larger studies are needed to confirm the results presented herein and to define applicability across broader populations of survivors.

Annie C. Wetter, Ph.D., C.S.C.S., Jeanne P. Goldberg, Ph.D., R.D., Abby C. King, Ph D, Madeleine Sigman-Grant, Ph.D., R.D., Roberta Baer, Ph D, Evelyn Crayton,

We assessed the individual and combined effects of removing large predators and enriching water column nutrients on shoalgrass Halodule wrightii meadows in Big Lagoon, Florida, USA. To simulate the first-order effects of large predator reductions, we stocked 2.0 m 2 enclosures with elevated (~3 to 4 ambient) densities of the omnivorous pinfish Lagodon rhomboides, the dominant fish in local seagrass habitats, and we supplemented N and P in the water column to nearly 3 ambient levels. Monthly determinations of water column nutrients and chlorophyll a (chl a), coupled with bimonthly measurements of leaf epiphyte biomass, seagrass growth and biomass, and beginning and ending comparisons of mesograzer abundance, were used to evaluate the effects of increasing nutrient supply and changing food web structure. Results showed significant predator and nutrient effects, although there were fewer consumer effects and more negative nutrient effects on seagrasses than in our previous experiments, which had shown that mesograzers ameliorated the harmful effects of elevated nutrients on seagrasses. Epiphyte proliferation in enrichment treatments did not occur; thus, algal overgrowth could not explain the negative effects of nutrient loading on seagrass biomass. Instead, nutrient loading resulted in nitrogen-rich shoalgrass, and it appears that this high-quality food stimulated pinfish herbivory. Elevated pinfish consumption of the enriched shoalgrass then resulted in the decline of seagrass biomass in enrichment enclosures. These results add additional complexity to understanding and predicting the effects of eutrophication in coastal waters.

This paper puts forth a new encoding method for using neural network models to estimate the reliability of telecommunications networks with identical link reliabilities. Neural estimation is computationally speedy, and can be used during network design optimization by an iterative algorithm such as tabu search, or simulated annealing. Two significant drawbacks of previous approaches to using neural networks to model system reliability are the long vector length of the inputs required to represent the network link architecture, and the specificity of the neural network model to a certain system size. Our encoding method overcomes both of these drawbacks with a compact, general set of inputs that adequately describe the likely network reliability. We computationally demonstrate both the precision of the neural network estimate of reliability, and the ability of the neural network model to generalize to a variety of network sizes, including application to three actual large scale communications networks.

Students tend to retain naïve understandings of concepts such as energy and force even after completing school and entering college. We developed a learning environment called the Virtual Physics System (ViPS) to help students master these concepts in the context of pulleys, a class of simple machines that are difficult to assemble and use in the real world. Several features make the ViPS noteworthy: it combines simulation and tutoring, it customizes tutoring to address common misconceptions, and it employs a pedagogical strategy that identifies student misconceptions and guides students in problem solving through virtual experimentation. This paper presents the ViPS and describes studies in which we evaluated its efficacy and compared learning from the ViPS with learning from constructing and experimenting with real pulleys. Our results indicate that the ViPS is effective in helping students learn and remediate their misconceptions, and that virtual experimentation in the ViPS is more effective than real experimentation with pulleys.

Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis is a major foodborne pathogen in the United States, causing gastroenteritis in humans, primarily through consumption of contaminated eggs. Chickens are the reservoir host of S. Enteritidis. In layer hens, S. Enteritidis colonizes the intestine and migrates to various organs, including the oviduct, leading to egg contamination. This study investigated the efficacy of in-feed supplementation with trans-cinnamaldehyde (TC), a generally recognized as safe (GRAS) plant compound obtained from cinnamon, in reducing S. Enteritidis cecal colonization and systemic spread in layers. Additionally, the effect of TC on S. Enteritidis virulence factors critical for macrophage survival and oviduct colonization was investigated in vitro. The consumer acceptability of eggs was also determined by a triangle test. Supplementation of TC in feed for 66 days at 1 or 1.5% (vol/wt) for 40- or 25-week-old layer chickens decreased the amounts of S. Enteritidis on eggshell and in yolk (P<0.001). Additionally, S. Enteritidis persistence in the cecum, liver, and oviduct in TC-supplemented birds was decreased compared to that in controls (P<0.001). No significant differences in feed intake, body weight, or egg production in birds or in consumer acceptability of eggs were observed (P>0.05). In vitro cell culture assays revealed that TC reduced S. Enteritidis adhesion to and invasion of primary chicken oviduct epithelial cells and reduced S. Enteritidis survival in chicken macrophages (P<0.001). Follow-up gene expression analysis using real-time quantitative PCR (qPCR) showed that TC downregulated the expression of S. Enteritidis virulence genes critical for chicken oviduct colonization (P<0.001). The results suggest that TC may potentially be used as a feed additive to reduce egg-borne transmission of S. Enteritidis.

Hess, J.B., Bilgili, S.F., Parson, A.M. and Downs, K.M. 2001. Influence of complexed zinc products on live performance and carcass grade of broilers. J. Appl. Anim. Res., 19: 49–60. The influence of supplementing diets with zinc (Zn) amino acid complexes on live performance and carcass quality of female (Experiment 1) and male broiler chickens (Experiment 2) was investigated. In Experiment 1, day-old female chicks were fed, under summer conditions, one of 4 dietary treatments: a control and diets supplemented with Zn (40 ppm) from Zn-methionine, Zn-lysine, or a commercial mixture of Zn-methionine and Zn-lysine. During the rearing period, body weight and feed conversion were measured. Randomly selected birds were processed with subsequent evaluation of foot pad lesions and carcass grades. In Experiment 2, male chicks were fed similar diets as Experiment 1, but under cool weather conditions. Live performance variables were measured and randomly selected- birds were processed to assess carcass defects, carcass grade, foot pad lesions and carcass yields. In Experiment 1, feed conversion and foot pad- lesions were reduced (P<0.05) in female broilers fed the Zn-amino acid, complexes, with no consistent alterations in carcass grade other than improvements in wing and back bruising. Body weight of male broilers was improved at 21d with Zn-methionine and Zn-lysine supplemented diets, with improvements in bach bruising. No differences in foot pad quality or carcass yields of male broilers was observed among the dietary treatments (P>0.05). The influence of zinc complexes on broiler live performance, carcass bruising and foot pad quality appeared to vary with environmental conditions.

Electroencephalography (EEG) is a brain imaging approach that has been widely used in neuroscience and clinical settings. The conventional EEG analyses usually require pre-defined frequency bands when characterizing neural oscillations and extracting features for classifying EEG signals. However, neural responses are naturally heterogeneous by showing variations in frequency bands of brainwaves and peak frequencies of oscillatory modes across individuals. Fail to account for such variations might result in information loss and classifiers with low accuracy but high variation across individuals. To address these issues, we present a systematic time-frequency analysis approach for analyzing scalp EEG signals. In particular, we propose a data-driven method to compute the subject-specific frequency bands for brain oscillations via Hilbert-Huang Transform, lifting the restriction of using fixed frequency bands for all subjects. Then, we propose two novel metrics to quantify the power and frequency aspects of brainwaves represented by sub-signals decomposed from the EEG signals. The effectiveness of the proposed metrics are tested on two scalp EEG datasets and compared with four commonly used features sets extracted from wavelet and Hilbert-Huang Transform. The validation results show that the proposed metrics are more discriminatory than other features leading to accuracies in the range of 94.93% to 99.84%. Besides classification, the proposed metrics show great potential in quantification of neural oscillations and serving as biomarkers in the neuroscience research.

BACKGROUND: Artificial insemination is a preferred breeding method for beef heifers as it advances the genetic background, produces a predictive and profitable calving season, and extends the heifer's reproductive life span. As reproductive efficiency in heifers is key for the success of beef cattle production systems, following artificial insemination, heifers are exposed to a bull for the remainder of the breeding season. Altogether, up to 95% of heifers might become pregnant in their first breeding season. Heifers that do not become pregnant at the end of the breeding season represent an irreparable economical loss. Additionally, heifers conceiving late in the breeding season to natural service, although acceptable, poses serious losses to producers. To minimize losses due to reproductive failure, different phenotypic parameters can be assessed and utilized as selection tools. Here, we tested the hypothesis that in a group of pre-selected heifers, records of weaning weight, age at weaning, age at artificial insemination, and age of dam differ among heifers of varied reproductive outcomes during the first breeding season. RESULTS: None of the parameters tested presented predictive ability to discriminate the heifers based on the response variable ('pregnant to artificial insemination', 'pregnant to natural service', 'not pregnant'). Heifers categorized with body condition score = 6 and reproductive tract score ≥ 4 had the greatest proportion of pregnancy to artificial insemination (49% and 44%, respectively). Furthermore, it was notable that heifers presenting body condition score = 6 and reproductive tract score = 5 presented the greatest pregnancy rate at end of the breeding season (89%). Heifers younger than 368 d at the start of the breeding season did not become pregnant to artificial insemination. Those young heifers had 12.5% chance to become pregnant in their first breeding season, compared to 87.5% if the heifers were older than 368 days. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that beef heifers with body condition score = 6 and reproductive tract score ≥ 4 are more likely to become pregnant to artificial insemination. Careful assessment should be undertaken when developing replacement heifers that will not reach 12 months of age by the beginning of the breeding season.

BACKGROUND: Infertility is a longstanding limitation in livestock production with important economic impact for the cattle industry. Female reproductive traits are polygenic and lowly heritable in nature, thus selection for fertility is challenging. Beef cattle operations leverage estrous synchronization in combination with artificial insemination (AI) to breed heifers and benefit from an early and uniform calving season. A couple of weeks following AI, heifers are exposed to bulls for an opportunity to become pregnant by natural breeding (NB), but they may also not become pregnant during this time period. Focusing on beef heifers, in their first breeding season, we hypothesized that: a- at the time of AI, the transcriptome of peripheral white blood cells (PWBC) differs between heifers that become pregnant to AI and heifers that become pregnant late in the breeding season by NB or do not become pregnant during the breeding season; and b- the ratio of transcript abundance between genes in PWBC classifies heifers according to pregnancy by AI, NB, or failure to become pregnant. RESULTS: We generated RNA-sequencing data from 23 heifers from two locations (A: six AI-pregnant and five NB-pregnant; and B: six AI-pregnant and six non-pregnant). After filtering out lowly expressed genes, we quantified transcript abundance for 12,538 genes. The comparison of gene expression levels between AI-pregnant and NB-pregnant heifers yielded 18 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) (ADAM20, ALDH5A1, ANG, BOLA-DQB, DMBT1, FCER1A, GSTM3, KIR3DL1, LOC107131247, LOC618633, LYZ, MNS1, P2RY12, PPP1R1B, SIGLEC14, TPPP, TTLL1, UGT8, eFDR≤0.02). The comparison of gene expression levels between AI-pregnant and non-pregnant heifers yielded six DEGs (ALAS2, CNKSR3, LOC522763, SAXO2, TAC3, TFF2, eFDR≤0.05). We calculated the ratio of expression levels between all gene pairs and assessed their potential to classify samples according to experimental groups. Considering all samples, relative expression from two gene pairs correctly classified 10 out of 12 AI-pregnant heifers (P = 0.0028) separately from the other 11 heifers (NB-pregnant, or non-pregnant). CONCLUSION: The transcriptome profile in PWBC, at the time of AI, is associated with the fertility potential of beef heifers. Transcript levels of specific genes may be further explored as potential classifiers, and thus selection tools, of heifer fertility.

Virus-like disease symptoms consisting of leaf cupping, shortened internodes, and overall stunting were observed in commercial cotton fields in Alabama in 2017 to 2018. To determine the complete genome sequence of the suspected causal polerovirus, symptomatic leaf samples were collected in Macon County, Alabama, and subjected to Illumina RNA sequencing. Based on BLASTn analysis, the Illumina contig of 5,771 nt shared the highest nucleotide identity (approximately 95%) with members of the species Cotton leafroll dwarf virus (CLRDV) (genus Polerovirus; family Luteoviridae) from Argentina and Brazil. The full-length viral genome sequence was verified by reverse transcription (RT)-PCR amplification, cloning, and Sanger sequencing. The complete CLRDV genome of 5,865 nt in length shared 94.8 to 95.2% nucleotide identity with six previously reported CLRDV isolates. The genome of the CLRDV isolate amplified from Alabama samples (CLRDV-AL) has seven predicted open reading frames (ORFs). Viral proteins 1 to 5 (P1 to P5) shared 91.9 to 99.5% amino acid identity with the six CLRDV isolates from Argentina and Brazil. However, P0, the suppressor of host gene silencing, shared 82.4 to 88.5% pairwise amino acid identity with the latter CLRDV isolates. Phylogenetic analysis of the seven full-length CLRDV genomes resolved three sister clades: CLRDV-AL, CLRDV-typical, and CLRDV-atypical, respectively. Three recombination events were detected by the recombination detection program among the seven CLRDV isolates with breakpoints occurring along the genome. Pairwise nucleotide identity comparisons of ORF0 sequences for the three CLRDV-AL field isolates indicated that they were >99% identical, suggesting that this previously unknown CLRDV genotype represents a single introduction to Alabama.

Identifying Eimeria spp. circulating in a poultry flock assists in designing vaccine preventive programs, as different species do not cross-protect. Because species differ in anticoccidial drug susceptibility, species identification can also be used to optimize anticoccidial medication. In the present study, we designed pan-Eimeria–specific primers for the 18S rDNA and the cytochrome oxidase I (COI) genes, and tested whether next-generation sequencing of their amplicons allowed reliable identification of Eimeria spp. in samples of isolated oocysts. For each gene, two sets of primers to be used in a nested PCR (nPCR) system were designed. In silico evaluation of the primers using published sequences showed that nucleotide sequence identities of the nested amplicons were less than 97% between most species, while only identities of 18S rDNA genes of Eimeria necatrix and Eimeria tenella and between the COI genes of Eimeria mitis and Eimeria mivati were higher than 97%. Three vaccines and five Eimeria samples from chickens in backyard flocks were investigated by nPCRs and by direct PCRs (dPCR) using the nested (inner) primers with genomic DNA as the template. Seventeen further Eimeria samples from chickens in backyard flocks and three Eimeria samples from commercial broiler flocks were investigated only by nPCR. Sequencing nPCR products tended to detect more species than sequencing dPCR products and sequencing 18S rDNA products tended to detect more species than sequencing COI products. Regarding the detected species, there was a clear difference between the commercial broiler flocks and the backyard flocks. Eimeria acervulina, Eimeria maxima, and E. tenella/E. necatrix were the only species detected in broiler flocks, while the population in the backyard flocks was more varied, with Eimeria brunetti and E. mitis/E. mivati and the previously described operational taxonomic unit Y being more prevalent. Several sequences having less than 97% identity with one of the sequences used for clustering were detected in samples from backyard flocks. In conclusion, next-generation amplicon sequencing can be a useful tool to determine which Eimeria spp. are circulating in chicken flocks.

The terms used to describe symptoms of delayed senescence in soybean often are used inconsistently or interchangeably and do not adequately distinguish the observed symptoms in the field. Various causes have been proposed to explain the development of delayed senescence symptoms. In this article, we review published reports on delayed senescence symptoms in soybean, summarize current research findings, provide examples of terms related to specific symptoms, and present an overview of the results of a multi-state survey directed to soybean growers to understand their concerns about delayed soybean senescence. Some of these terms, such as green bean syndrome and green stem syndrome, describe symptoms induced by biotic factors, while other terms describe symptoms associated with abiotic factors. Some delayed senescence terms involve the whole plant remaining green while other terms include just the stem and other plant parts such as pods. In the grower survey, 77% reported observing soybean plants or plant parts that remained green after most plants in the field were fully mature with ripe seed. Most respondents attributed these symptoms to changes in breeding and choice of cultivars. At the end of this article, we standardized the terms used to describe delayed senescence in soybean. Accepted for publication 23 March 2016. Published 15 April 2016.

BACKGROUND: Tourism is important to the Jamaican economy accounting for approximately 25% of the gross domestic product. Health problems in tourists could have significant impact on the health of the local population, the scarce health service resources, and the tourist industry. This study was conducted to identify health problems most commonly occurring in tourists visiting Jamaica and examine how these problems are managed. METHODS: Records of health problems occurring in tourists who visited principal tourist areas on the north coast from June 1998 to June 2002 were reviewed for the type of illness and how the problem was handled. The data were analyzed using Epi-Info software (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Atlanta, GA) and Statistical Analysis System software (SAS Institute, Cary, NC). RESULTS: Accidents were the most common health crises reported by tourists. Gastrointestinal, respiratory, and cardiovascular problems occurred less frequently. Those less than 40 years of age more frequently reported accidents or injury, gastrointestinal problems, and drug abuse, whereas respiratory and cardiovascular problems were more common among those above 40 years of age. Cardiovascular problems, drug abuse, and death were more common in men than in women. Hotel nurses handled most of the cases and were more likely to refer patients to private physicians or hospitals than to public hospitals (p <.05). Factors influencing the way the crisis was handled were age (p =.0441); who handled the crisis (p <.0001); and the method of payment (p =.0072). The factors that influenced hospitalization were gender (p =.0615); who handled the crisis at the onset (p =.0497); how the crisis was dealt with (p =.0336); and previous health problems (p =.0056). Men were more likely to be hospitalized and to be referred to a public hospital than women. Medical insurance covered the costs for 11% of tourists, and 75% paid out of pocket. CONCLUSION: The information provided by this study can be used to implement changes to reduce health problems in tourists and improve emergency health services in tourist areas.

This research developed worker schedules by using administrative controls and a computer programming model to reduce the likelihood of worker hearing loss. By rotating the workers through different jobs during the day it was possible to reduce their exposure to hazardous noise levels. Computer simulations were made based on data collected in a real setting. Worker schedules currently used at the site are compared with proposed worker schedules from the computer simulations. For the worker assignment plans found by the computer model, the authors calculate a significant decrease in time-weighted average (TWA) sound level exposure. The maximum daily dose that any worker is exposed to is reduced by 58.8%, and the maximum TWA value for the workers is reduced by 3.8 dB from the current schedule.

SUMMARY Broiling had a greater effect on phospholipid fraction fatty acids than on neutral fraction fatty acids. The percentages of C18:3 (neutral fraction) and Cl4 and Cl5 (phospholipid fraction) were significantly smaller (5% level) in the broiled steaks. However, the percentage of C8 (phospholipid fraction) was larger in the broiled than in the raw steaks (5% level). Sex differences, restricted to the neutral fraction acids, were greater than the effect of broiling. Steers had a larger percentage of Cl6 and Cl8 and a smaller percentage of C18:l than heifers (5% level). Neutral fraction acids (C 18 , C18:l and C18:2) were significantly correlated with lipid prosphorus, cholesterol, % fat trim (retail), estimated % carcass fat and estimated % carcass lean. Phospholipid fraction acids (C 16 , C 18 , Cl83 and C20:4) were associated with average daily gain and days of animal age (5% level). Low, nonsignificant correlations were found among individual fatty acids from the neutral and phospholipid fractions of bovine longissimus dorsi muscle with tenderness and juiciness scores.

Abstract Economics is the study of the allocation of scarce resources to meet human wants and needs and has a critical role to play in addressing challenges related to environmental sustainability, community resilience, and food security. In the context of aquaculture, the key to such a discussion is understanding the linkages of aquaculture farming businesses with other economic sectors and how policy decisions that affect aquaculture result in economic ripples throughout local, regional, and national economies. The only previous national estimates of the economic contributions of U.S. aquaculture are nearly 30 years old. The current study was based on comprehensive data from detailed farm‐level surveys (that captured 77% of the total value of U.S. aquaculture) supplemented by information from publications on the remaining aquaculture sectors. The economic contributions measured in this study were limited to those at the farm level and do not include subsequent impacts that occur as farmed products move through processing, distribution, food service, and retail sectors in the U.S. economy. Results showed that U.S. aquaculture farms contributed $4 billion annually and supported more than 22,000 jobs each year. Labor income and value‐added contributions were $1 billion and $3 billion, respectively. Analysis of the linkages of U.S. aquaculture production activities with other economic sectors showed that nearly all (96%) economic sectors were supported to some degree by U.S. aquaculture farms. Foodfish farms generated the greatest contributions, followed by mollusk farms. Freshwater aquaculture farms contributed twice that of the contributions of marine aquaculture because of the greater size of the freshwater aquaculture sector. Growth of both freshwater and marine sectors would increase overall contributions to the economy. Constraints to growth of aquaculture include regulatory barriers that have restricted existing sectors from meeting current demand for their products. The lack of an adequate regulatory framework for offshore marine aquaculture has constrained its growth and development, especially with respect to the rest of the world. Streamlined regulations implemented in a more timely and efficient manner could result in substantially greater economic contributions from existing U.S. aquaculture farms. The total economic impact of U.S. aquaculture production is likely three to four times greater than the farm‐level impacts estimated in this study as a result of impacts that occur as aquaculture products move downstream through various marketing channels. Additional research is needed to measure the impacts of U.S. aquaculture products in the processing, distribution, food service, supermarket, and restaurant levels of the marketing chain to fully capture the total economic contributions from U.S. aquaculture.

Most plants produce large amounts of seeds to disperse their progeny in the environment. Plant viruses have evolved to avoid plant resistance mechanisms and use seeds for their dispersal. The presence of plant pathogenic viruses in seeds and suppression of plant host defenses is a major worldwide concern for producers and seed companies because undetected viruses in the seed can represent a significant threat to yield in many economically important crops. The vertical transmission of plant viruses occurs directly through the embryo or indirectly by getting in pollen grains or ovules. Infection of plant viruses during the early development of the seed embryo can result in morphological or genetic changes that cause poor seed quality and, more importantly, low yields due to the partial or ubiquitous presence of the virus at the earliest stages of seedling development. Understanding transmission of plant viruses and the ability to avoid plant defense mechanisms during seed embryo development will help identify primary inoculum sources, reduce virus spread, decrease severity of negative effects on plant health and productivity, and facilitate the future of plant disease management during seed development in many crops. In this article, we provide an overview of the current knowledge and understanding of plant virus transmission during seed embryo development, including the context of host-virus interaction.