Artificial feeding Rice stripe virus enables efficient virus infection of Laodelphax striatellus.

Rice stripe virus (RSV), the causative agent of rice stripe disease, is transmitted by Laodelphax striatellus in a persistent-propagative manner. Efficient virus acquisition is primary for studies of virus transmission and virus-insect vector interactions. However, under greenhouse conditions, less than 30% of the L. striatellus population, on average, become viruliferous during feeding on RSV-infected plants. Here, we explored a method for efficient RSV acquisition by feeding the insects with a virus-containing artificial diet. Virus particles were partially purified from frozen infected rice leaves. A series of RSV concentrations in a 5% sucrose solution were tested in the feed of L. striatellus nymphs. The percentage of infected insects increased along with the increasing viral concentration, and the highest infection percentage 96% was achieved using a 1200ngμL(-1) crude RSV suspension after 48h feeding. RSV particles acquired in this manner were able to spread to L. striatellus salivary glands. This improved method of obtaining viruliferous insects should assist the study of RSV transmission mechanisms in L. striatellus.