In order to understand the movement of the MBCTV inside its hosts, experiments have been conducted using PCR analysis which allow for the detection and quantification of MBCTV particles inside leafhoppers. One such study measured the amounts of MBCTV found in the gut, hemocoel and salivary glands of beet leafhoppers and found that the virus was present in all those regions suggesting that the virus may use a circulative transmission mechanism inside its host. A circulative transmission mechanism refers to a transmission mechanism in which the vector ingests a pathogen during feeding from an infected host, the pathogen is absorbed in the vector’s gut and then travels through the hemocoel into the salivary glands. When the vector then bites into an uninfected host, the pathogen enters the new host. This mechanism is similar to the transmission mechanism used by "Spiroplasma citri" in transmitting the Stubborn citrus disease which also uses the beet leafhopper as a vector.