Bacteriophage WO in Wolbachia infecting terrestrial isopods

Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2005 Nov 18;337(2):580-5. doi: 10.1016/j.bbrc.2005.09.091. Epub 2005 Sep 22.

Abstract

Wolbachia are maternally inherited intracellular alpha-proteobacteria that infect a wide range of arthropods. They are associated with a number of different reproductive phenotypes in arthropods and nematodes. In isopod crustacean, Wolbachia are responsible for feminization of genetic males in many species, and for cytoplasmic incompatibility in two species. In this paper, we report the first detection of phage WO from Wolbachia infecting terrestrial isopods. All Wolbachia strains tested in this study were infected with phage WO. Based on the orf7 phage sequence, we identified three different phage sequences in four Wolbachia strains. The phage of Wolbachia infecting Armadillidium vulgare seems to be not active, unlike other phages WO previously described in arthropods.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Animals
  • Bacteriophages / pathogenicity*
  • Base Sequence
  • Feminization
  • Isopoda / physiology
  • Isopoda / virology*
  • Male
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Phenotype
  • Wolbachia / virology*