Wolbachia By: Thomas Garrity and

Presley Davis

Wolbachia pipientis • Gram-negative • Common obligate intracellular

bacteria • Normally found in arthropods

and nematodes• In arthropods, it is a parasitic

symbiont.• In nematodes, it is mostly a

mutualistic symbiont.• It is inherited vertically but can

be inherited horizontally across species

• Causes reproductive incompatibility, parthenogenesis, and feminization.

• Found in reproductive tissues (ovaries and testes)

• First reported in tissues of mosquito Coley pipens by Hertig and Wolbach in 1924.

• It infects at least 20% of all insects.

What is meant by an obligate, intracellular symbiont?

An obligate intracellular symbiont cannot reproduce outside of their host cell. This means that the parasite’s reproduction depends entirely on resources in the cell.

The Four Basic Reproductive Strategies Used by Wolbachia

1.Feminization of infected males (turning them into females or pseudo-females that are infertile)

2.Parthenogenesis: reproduction of infected females without males

3.Killing of infected males4.Cytoplasmic incompatibility:

modification of sperm from infected males which results in embryonic defects and death when sperm fertilize eggs that are not infected