Characterization of an intergenic polymorphic site (pp-hC1A_5) in Wolbachia pipientis (wPip)

Wolbachia pipientis (w Pip) is an intracellular bacterium causing cytoplasmic incompatibility in arthropods including mosquitoes of the Culex pipiens complex. Here we present a method useful for genotyping within the w Pip group. Primers were designed using a Tandem Repeat Finder program to amplify an intergenic, polymorphic site (pp-hC1A_5) of w Pip. The polymorphic site is located between genes that code for polynucleotide phosphorylase and a hypothetical protein (C1A_5). Comparison of these w Pip genomic regions from C. pipiens mosquitoes sampled in different geographic regions revealed deletions of fragments that proved useful in phyologenetic analysis.Wolbachia pipientis（w Pip）是一种胞内细菌，可导致包括尖音库蚊复合组（Culex pipiens complex）蚊子在内的节肢动物产生细胞质不相容现象。本研究报道了一种可用于w Pip类群基因分型的实用方法。研究人员借助串联重复查找器（Tandem Repeat Finder）软件设计引物，以扩增w Pip的基因间多态性位点pp-hC1A_5。该多态性位点位于编码多核苷酸磷酸化酶（polynucleotide phosphorylase）的基因与编码假设蛋白（hypothetical protein）C1A_5的基因之间。对不同地理区域采集的尖音库蚊体内w Pip的该基因组区域进行比对后，发现了片段缺失现象，该特征可有效应用于系统发育分析。