Detecting Virus and Salivary Proteins of a Leafhopper Vector in the Plant Host

Insect vectors horizontally transmit many plant viruses of agricultural importance. More than one-half of plant viruses are transmitted by hemipteran insects that have piercing-sucking mouthparts. During viral transmission, the insect saliva bridges the virus-vector-host because the saliva vectors viruses, and the insect proteins, trigger or suppress the immune response of plants from insects into plant hosts. The identification and functional analyses of salivary proteins are becoming a new area of focus in the research field of arbovirus-host interactions. This protocol provides a system to detect proteins in the saliva of leafhoppers using the plant host. The leafhopper vector Nephotettix cincticeps infected with rice dwarf virus (RDV) serves as an example. The vitellogenin and major outer capsid protein P8 of RDV vectored by the saliva of N. cincticeps can be detected simultaneously in the rice plant that N. cincticeps feeds on. This method is applicable for testing the salivary proteins that are transiently retained in the plant host after insect feeding. It is believed that this system of detection will benefit the study of hemipteran-virus-plant or hemipteran-plant interactions.