Most plant viruses are transmitted by hemipteroid insects. Some viruses can be transmitted from female parent to offspring usually through eggs, but the mechanism of this transovarial transmission remains unclear. Rice stripe virus (RSV), a Tenuivirus, transmitted mainly by the small brown planthopper (Laodelphax striatellus), is also spread to the offspring through the eggs. Here, we used the RSV–planthopper system as a model to investigate the mechanism of transovarial transmission and demonstrated the central role of vitellogenin (Vg) of L. striatellus in the process of virus transmission into the eggs. Our data showed Vg can bind to pc3 in vivo and in vitro and colocalize in the germarium. RSV filamentous ribonucleoprotein particles (RNPs) only accumulated in the terminal filaments and pedicel areas prior to Vg expression and was not present in the germarium until Vg was expressed, where RSV RNPs and Vg had colocalized. Observations by immunoelectron microscopy (IEM) also indicated that these two proteins colocalized in nurse cells. Knockdown of Vg expression due to RNA interference resulted in inhibition of the invasion of ovarioles by RSV. Together, the data obtained indicated that RSV RNPs may enter the nurse cell of the germarium via endocytosis through binding with Vg. Finally, the virus enters the oocytes through nutritive cords, using the same route as for Vg transport. Our results show that the Vg of L. striatellus played a critical role in transovarial transmission of RSV and shows how viruses can use existing transovarial transportation systems in insect vectors for their own purposes.

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Rice dwarf virus (RDV) replicates in and is transmitted by a leafhopper vector in a persistent-propagative manner. Previous cytopathologic and genetic data revealed that tubular structures, constructed by the nonstructural viral protein Pns10, contain viral particles and are directly involved in the intercellular spread of RDV among cultured leafhopper cells. Here, we demonstrated that RDV exploited these virus-containing tubules to move along actin-based microvilli of the epithelial cells and muscle fibers of visceral muscle tissues in the alimentary canal, facilitating the spread of virus in the body of its insect vector leafhoppers. In cultured leafhopper cells, the knockdown of Pns10 expression due to RNA interference (RNAi) induced by synthesized dsRNA from Pns10 gene strongly inhibited tubule formation and prevented the spread of virus among insect vector cells. RNAi induced after ingestion of dsRNA from Pns10 gene strongly inhibited formation of tubules, preventing intercellular spread and transmission of the virus by the leafhopper. All these results, for the first time, show that a persistent-propagative virus exploits virus-containing tubules composed of a nonstructural viral protein to traffic along actin-based cellular protrusions, facilitating the intercellular spread of the virus in the vector insect. The RNAi strategy and the insect vector cell culture provide useful tools to investigate the molecular mechanisms enabling efficient transmission of persistent-propagative plant viruses by vector insects.

Rice gall dwarf virus (RGDV), a member of the family Reoviridae, causes repeated epidemics in rice fields in southern China. An RGDV isolate collected from Guangdong Province (southern China) is mainly transmitted by leafhopper vector Recilia dorsalis in a persistent-propagative manner. The infection by RGDV induces the formation of virus-containing tubules in the plant host and insect vector. In this study, we established continuous cell cultures of the leafhopper R. dorsalis to investigate the functional role of these tubules within the insect vector. Cytopathologic studies revealed that the tubules, which comprised viral non-structural protein Pns11 and contained viral particles, were able to protrude from the surface of cultured leafhopper cells. Tubule-like structures formed in non-host insect cells after the expression of Pns11 in a baculovirus system, suggesting that Pns11 was the minimal viral factor required for the formation of the tubules induced by RGDV infection. In cultured leafhopper cells, knockdown of Pns11 expression from RNA interference, induced by synthesized dsRNA from the Pns11 gene, abolished the formation of such tubules, preventing the direct cell-to-cell spread of RGDV without significant effects on viral multiplication. All these results show that RGDV exploits virus-containing tubules to facilitate viral spread among its insect vector cells.

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