Wolbachia endosymbiont of Drosophila recens (wRec) Genome sequencing

wRec, a Wolbachia pipientis strain inhabiting the mushroom-feeding fly Drosophila recens, was sequenced along with some of its insect host DNA. wRec is a multipotent strain of Wolbachia that can cause multiple phenotypes of reproductive manipulation depending on its host (cytoplasmic incompatibility or male killing). PCR screens have previously indicated that wRec lacks prophage WO, a dsDNA virus that is nearly universal in arthropod Wolbachia, and which has been hypothesized to be involved these reproductive manipulations. Since cytoplasmic incompatibility is being used as a driver of Wolbachia infection in wild mosquito populations, blocking vector competence for diseases such as dengue and malaria, its mechanisms of action are of particular interest. We sequenced this Wolbachia strain to investigate the missing phage anomaly and to seek clues for the causative factors of Wolbachia-induced reproductive manipulations.