Xylella fastidiosa (Xf) is primarily considered a plant pathogen, despite the fact that it successfully colonizes two very distinct hosts: plants and insect vectors. Vectors are required for natural X. fastidiosa dissemination.

Therefore, a robust understanding of vector ecology is necessary for the development of management practices. One important aspect of Xf  transmission relevant to the emergence of new diseases is that it lacks vector specificity. The xylem-sap feeding insects that transmit Xf are distributed worldwide.

Due to the relatively recent emergence of the Xf threats in Europe, there are no consolidated data on the distribution of various potential insect vectors are available in EU, with consequent uncertainties about the area where the bacterium can spread rapidly and cause serious disease outbreaks, the project work plan will investigate the biological processes involved in insect vectoring (feeding behavior, host preference, vibrational communication signals) and the use of innovative approaches (NGS analysis, microbiome and metagenomics sequencing) to produce massive information for the development of novel bio-control tools.