Protocols for investigating the host-tissue distribution, transmission-mode, and effect on the host fitness of a densovirus in the cotton bollworm

Many novel viruses have been discovered in animal hosts using next-generation sequencing technologies. Previously, we reported a mutualistic virus, Helicoverpa armigera densovirus (HaDV2), in a lepidopteran species, the cotton bollworm, Helicoverpa armigera (Hubner). Here, we describe the protocols that are currently used to study the effect of HaDV2 on its host. First, we establish a HaDV2-free cotton bollworm colony from a single breeding pair. Then, we orally inoculate some neonate larval offspring with HaDV2-containing filtered liquid to produce two colonies with the same genetic background: one HaDV2-infected, the other uninfected. A protocol to compare life table parameters (e.g., larval, pupal, and adult periods and fecundity) between the HaDV2-infected and -uninfected individuals is also presented, as are the protocols for determining the host-tissue distribution and transmission efficiency of HaDV2. These protocols would also be suitable for investigating the effects of other orally transmitted viruses on their insect hosts, lepidopteran hosts in particular.