2017年3月6日， 國際學術權威刊物自然出版集團旗下子刊、微生物學領域著名期刊《Nature Microbiology》線上發表了北京大學生命科學學院李毅課題組與福建農林大學魏太雲課題組合作題為“Insect symbiotic bacteria harbour viral pathogens for transovarial transmission”的研究論文。 研究發現， 黑尾葉蟬的共生細菌Sulcia可以與水稻矮縮病毒相互作用並攜帶病毒通過上皮組織進入卵母細胞， 從而説明病毒經卵垂直傳播給葉蟬的後代。 李毅教授為該文的共同通訊作者。
許多的昆蟲， 包括蚊子、蚜蟲、飛虱和葉蟬是病毒傳播的傳播介體。 這些昆蟲體內都具有共生菌， 一般來說， 昆蟲體內的共生菌可以通過增強昆蟲的免疫系統，
Sulica攜帶水稻矮縮病毒(RDV)進入雌性黑尾葉蟬的卵細胞。
(A).RDV的外殼蛋白P2與細菌Sulica的外膜蛋白OMP直接相互作用， 細菌外膜凹陷形成包含病毒的橢圓形小泡。 (B).RDV病毒粒子直接附著在Sulica的外殼上， 通過Sulica攜帶著病毒通過上皮栓進入卵細胞。
原文連結：
原文摘要：
Many insects, including mosquitoes, planthoppers, aphids and leafhoppers, are the hosts of bacterial symbionts and the vectors for transmitting viral pathogens1,2,3. In general, symbiotic bacteria can indirectly affect viral transmission by enhancing immunity and resistance to viruses in insects3,4,5. Whether symbiotic bacteria can directly interact with the virus and mediate its transmission has been unknown. Here, we show that an insect symbiotic bacterium directly harbours a viral pathogen and mediates its transovarial transmission to offspring. We observe rice dwarf virus (a plant reovirus) binding to the envelopes of the bacterium Sulcia, a common obligate symbiont of leafhoppers6,7,8, allowing the virus to exploit the ancient oocyte entry path of Sulcia in rice leafhopper vectors. Such virus–bacterium binding is mediated by the specific interaction of the viral capsid protein and the Sulcia outer membrane protein. Treatment with antibiotics or antibodies against Sulcia outer membrane protein interferes with this interaction and strongly prevents viral transmission to insect offspring. This newly discovered virus–bacterium interaction represents the first evidence that a viral pathogen can directly exploit a symbiotic bacterium for its transmission. We believe that such a model of virus–bacterium communication is a common phenomenon in nature.