Wolbachia
Transmission electron micrograph of Wolbachia within an insect cell. Credit:Public Library of Science / Scott O'Neill
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Bacteria Phylum: Proteobacteria Class: Alpha Proteobacteria Order: Rickettsiales Family: Rickettsiaceae Genus: Wolbachia

Wolbachia is a genus of inherited bacterium which infects arthropod species, including a high proportion of insects. It is one of the world's most common parasitic microbes and is potentially the most common reproductive parasite in the biosphere. One study concludes that more than 16% of neotropical insect species carry this bacterium^[1] and as many as 25-70% of all insect species are estimated to be potential hosts.^[2] The Public Library of Science (PLoS) is a nonprofit open access scientific publishing project aimed at creating a library of open access journals and other scientific literature under an open content license. ... Scientific classification redirects here. ... Phyla/Divisions Actinobacteria Aquificae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chlamydiae/Verrucomicrobia Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Nitrospirae Omnibacteria Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Bacteria (singular, bacterium) are a major group of living organisms. ... Orders Alpha Proteobacteria    Caulobacterales - e. ... Families Rickettsiaceae Ehrlichiaceae Holosporaceae The Rickettsiales are an order of small proteobacteria. ... Genera Rickettsia Orientia Wolbachia The Rickettsiaceae are a family of bacteria, including most notably the genus Rickettsia. ... For other uses, see Genus (disambiguation). ... Phyla/Divisions Actinobacteria Aquificae Bacteroidetes/Chlorobi Chlamydiae/Verrucomicrobia Chloroflexi Chrysiogenetes Cyanobacteria Deferribacteres Deinococcus-Thermus Dictyoglomi Fibrobacteres/Acidobacteria Firmicutes Fusobacteria Gemmatimonadetes Nitrospirae Omnibacteria Planctomycetes Proteobacteria Spirochaetes Thermodesulfobacteria Thermomicrobia Thermotogae Bacteria (singular, bacterium) are a major group of living organisms. ... Subphyla and Classes Subphylum Trilobitomorpha Trilobita - trilobites (extinct) Subphylum Chelicerata Arachnida - spiders,scorpions, etc. ... Orders Subclass Apterygota Symphypleona - globular springtails Subclass Archaeognatha (jumping bristletails) Subclass Dicondylia Monura - extinct Thysanura (common bristletails) Subclass Pterygota Diaphanopteroidea - extinct Palaeodictyoptera - extinct Megasecoptera - extinct Archodonata - extinct Ephemeroptera (mayflies) Odonata (dragonflies and damselflies) Infraclass Neoptera Blattodea (cockroaches) Mantodea (mantids) Isoptera (termites) Zoraptera Grylloblattodea Dermaptera (earwigs) Plecoptera (stoneflies) Orthoptera (grasshoppers, crickets...

History

The bacteria was first identified in 1924 by M. Hertig and S. B. Wolbach in Culex pipiens, a species of mosquito. Hertig formally described the genus 1936 as Wolbachia pipientis.^[3] There was little interest after the discovery until 1971 when it was discovered that Culex mosquito eggs were killed when the sperm of Wolbachia infected males fertilized infection-free eggs (Cytoplasmic incompatibility).^[4] It is today of considerable interest due to the nature of interactions and evolutionary consequences. For the rap album, see 1924 (album). ... For other uses, see Mosquito (disambiguation). ...

Role in sexual differentiation of hosts

Within arthropods, Wolbachia is notable for significantly altering the reproductive capabilities of its hosts. These bacteria can infect many different types of organs, but are most notable for the infections of the testes and ovaries of their hosts. Human male anatomy The testicles, known medically as testes (singular testis), are the male generative glands in animals. ... Human female internal reproductive anatomy Ovaries are a part of a female organism that produces eggs. ...

Wolbachia are known to cause four different phenotypes: The phenotype of an individual organism is either its total physical appearance and constitution, or a specific manifestation of a trait, such as size or eye color, that varies between individuals. ...

• Male killing: death of infected males. This allows related infected females to be more likely to survive and reproduce.
• Feminization: infected males develop as females or infertile pseudo-females.
• Parthenogenesis: reproduction of infected females without males.
• Cytoplasmic incompatibility: the inability of Wolbachia-infected males to successfully reproduce with uninfected females or females infected with another Wolbachia strain. This has the advantage of making the Wolbachia strain more likely to become prevalent as opposed to other strains of Wolbachia. This can have the additional result of making Wolbachia more common as a whole.

Wolbachia are present in mature eggs, but not mature sperm. Only infected females pass the infection on to their offspring. It is thought that the phenotypes caused by Wolbachia, especially cytoplasmic incompatibility, may be important in promoting speciation.^[5][6] Wolbachia can also cause misleading results in molecular cladistical analyses.^[7] For the religious belief, see Virgin Birth of Jesus. ... In biology, Strain can be used two ways. ... Molecular phylogeny is the use of the structure of molecules to gain information on an organisms evolutionary relationships. ... It has been suggested that Clade be merged into this article or section. ...

Horizontal gene transfer

The genomes of Wolbachia from Drosophila melanogaster flies^[8] and Brugia malayi nematodes^[9] have been sequenced, and genome sequencing projects for several other Wolbachia strains are in progress. A complete copy of the Wolbachia genome sequence was found within the genome sequence of the fruit fly Drosophila ananassae and large segments were found in 7 other Drosophila species.^[10] Binomial name Meigen, 1830[1] Drosophila melanogaster (from the Greek for black-bellied dew-lover) is a two-winged insect that belongs to the Diptera, the order of the flies. ... Binomial name Brug 1927 Brugia malayi is a filarial roundworm which causes filariasis in humans. ...

In an application of DNA barcoding to the identification of species of Protocalliphora flies, it was found that several distinct morphospecies had identical cytochrome c oxidase I gene sequences, most likely through horizontal gene transfer by Wolbachia species as they jump across host species.^[11] DNA barcoding is a taxonomic method which uses a short genetic marker in an organisms mitochondrial DNA to identify it as belonging to a particular species. ... Protocalliphora or Bird blowflies are a blow fly genus containing many species which are obligate parasites of birds. ... Horizontal gene transfer (HGT), also Lateral gene transfer (LGT), is any process in which an organism transfers genetic material to another cell that is not its offspring. ...

Applications to human health

Outside of insects, Wolbachia infects a variety of isopod species, spiders, mites, and many species of filarial nematodes (a type of parasitic worm), including those causing onchocerciasis ("River Blindness") and elephantiasis in humans as well as heartworms in dogs. Not only are these disease-causing filarial infected with Wolbachia, but Wolbachia seem to play an inordinate role in these diseases. A large part of the pathogenicity of filarial nematodes is due to host immune response toward their Wolbachia. Elimination of Wolbachia from filarial nematodes generally results in either death or sterility.^[12] Consequently, current strategies for control of filarial nematode diseases include elimination of Wolbachia via the simple doxycycline antibiotic rather than far more toxic anti-nematode medications.^[13] SubOrders Anthuridea Asellota Calabozoida Epicaridea Flabellifera Microcerberidea Oniscidea Phreatoicidea Valvifera Isopods are one of the most diverse orders of Crustaceans, with many species living in all environments, and are common in shallow marine waters. ... For other uses, see Spider (disambiguation). ... Mites, along with ticks, belong to the subclass Acarina (also known as Acari) and the class Arachnida. ... Classes Adenophorea    Subclass Enoplia    Subclass Chromadoria Secernentea    Subclass Rhabditia    Subclass Spiruria    Subclass Diplogasteria    Subclass Tylenchia The nematodes or roundworms (Phylum nematoda from Greek (nema): thread + -ode like) are one of the most common phyla of animals, with over 80,000 different described species (over 15,000 are parasitic). ... See also Parasitic worm (disambiguation) Parasitic worms or helminths are a division of eukaroytic parasites that, unlike external parasites such as lice and fleas, live inside their host. ... Binomial name Onchocerca volvulus Bickel 1982 Onchocerciasis (pronounced ) or river blindness is the worlds second leading infectious cause of blindness. ... Elephantiasis (Greek ελεφαντίασις, from ελέφαντας, the elephant) is a disease that is characterized by the thickening of the skin and underlying tissues, especially in the legs and genitals. ... For the album by Whipping Boy, see Heartworm (album). ... Doxycycline (INN) (IPA: ) is a member of the tetracycline antibiotics group and is commonly used to treat a variety of infections. ...

The use of modified strains of Wolbachia to control mosquito populations has also been a topic of research.^[14]

See also

Wikinews has related news:

Large scale gene transfer between single-celled and multicellular organisms reported

• Intragenomic conflict

Image File history File links WikiNews-Logo. ... Wikinews is a free-content news source and a project of the Wikimedia Foundation. ... The selfish gene theory postulates that natural selection will increase the frequency of those genes whose phenotypic effects ensure their successful replication. ...

References

• Werren J.H. (1997). "Biology of Wolbachia" (PDF). Annual Review of Entomology 42: 587-609. doi:10.1146/annurev.ento.42.1.587. ISSN 0066-4170. 

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Footnotes

A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... Carl Zimmer Carl Zimmer is a popular science writer and weblogger, especially regarding the study of evolution. ... Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is considered one of the worlds most prestigious scientific journals. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... ISSN, or International Standard Serial Number, is the unique eight-digit number applied to a periodical publication including electronic serials. ... PLoS ONE is an open access, online scientific journal from the Public Library of Science. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... ISSN, or International Standard Serial Number, is the unique eight-digit number applied to a periodical publication including electronic serials. ... The Biological Journal of the Linnean Society is a scientific journal published by The Linnean Society of London. ... ISSN, or International Standard Serial Number, is the unique eight-digit number applied to a periodical publication including electronic serials. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ... A digital object identifier (or DOI) is a standard for persistently identifying a piece of intellectual property on a digital network and associating it with related data, the metadata, in a structured extensible way. ...

External links

• Virtual Museum of Bacteria
• Wolbachia research portal National Science Foundation
• "One Species' Genome Discovered Inside Another's -- Bacterial to Animal Gene Transfers Now Shown to be Widespread, with Implications for Evolution and Control of Diseases and Pests", University of Rochester, August 30, 2007. Retrieved on 2007-11-27. 
• Wolbachia at the Encyclopedia of Life
• Howard Hughes Medical Institute High School Lab Series