Insights into Wolbachia biology provided through genomic analysis

Abstract

Wolbachia are maternally inherited intracellular bacteria that infect a range of invertebrates, including insects, mites, spiders and nematodes. They influence the biology of their host through a range of different mechanisms, from nutritional mutualism to various forms of reproductive parasitism. The recent partial and complete sequencing of a number of Wolbachia genomes is providing a wealth of comparative data that can be used to better understand the biology of these organisms, from providing putative genes and mechanisms involved in host interaction through to new polymorphic markers with which to better understand Wolbachia ecology.