Plant virus diseases cause significant agricultural losses worldwide; most of these pathogens (three quarters) require a vector for spread. Despite the importance of such diseases, management is still largely based on the application of pesticides to control vector populations, which has direct and indirect consequences to food production and environmental safety and sustainability. Molecular determinants of vector transmission have been well explored only for a few plant disease systems compared to numerous animal diseases, and may represent an untapped source of novel disease control strategies. The goal of this project is to test if the transmission of important aphid-borne viruses can be blocked by disrupting molecular vector-virus interactions.