Bayesian vector transmission model detects conflicting interactions from transgenic disease‐resistant grapevines

Effective management of vector-borne plant pathogens often relies on disease-resistant cultivars. While heterogeneity in host resistance and in pathogen population density at the host population level play important and well-recognized roles in epidemiology, the effects of resistance traits on pathogen distribution at the individual host level, and the epidemiological consequences in turn, are poorly understood. Transgenic disease-resistant plants that produce bacterial Diffusible Signaling Factor (DSF) could provide resistance to the vector-borne bacterium Xylella fastidiosa by impeding plant colonization and reducing virulence. However, the effects of constitutive in planta production of DSF on insect vector transmission has remained unresolved. We investigated the transmission biology of X. fastidiosa in DSF and wild-type (WT) grapevines with the efficient vector Graphocephala atropunctata. We also developed a novel Bayesian hierarchical model to improve statistical inference on the ...