JB Accepts, published online ahead of print on 20 April 2007

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J. Bacteriol. doi:10.1128/JB.00142-07
Copyright (c) 2007, American Society for Microbiology and/or the Listed Authors/Institutions. All Rights Reserved.

Variability and expression of ankyrin domain genes in Wolbachia infecting the mosquito Culex pipiens

Olivier Duron, Anthony Boureux, Pierre Echaubard, Arnaud Berthomieu, Claire Berticat, Philippe Fort, and Mylène Weill^*

Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution (UM2, CNRS), Equipe Génétique de l'Adaptation, Université Montpellier 2 ( C.C. 065), 34095 Montpellier, France; Institut de Génétique Humaine (UPR1142), CNRS, 141 rue de la Cardonille, 34396 Montpellier cedex 05, France; Centre de Recherche en Biochimie des Macromolécules (UMR5237), CNRS, 1919 route de Mende, 34293 Montpellier cedex 05, France

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: weill{at}isem.univ-montp2.fr.

Wolbachia are maternally inherited endosymbiotic bacteria that infect many arthropod species and have evolved several different ways for manipulating their host, the most frequent being cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI). CI leads to embryo death in crosses between infected males and uninfected females, as well as in crosses between individuals infected by incompatible Wolbachia strains. The mosquito Culex pipiens exhibits the highest crossing type variability reported so far. Our crossing data support the notion that CI might be driven by at least two distinct genetic units that control the CI functions independently in males and females. Although the molecular basis of CI remains unknown, proteins with ankyrin (ANK) domains represent promising candidates since they might interact with a wide range of host proteins. Here we searched for sequence variability in the 58 ANK genes encoded in the genome of Wolbachia infecting Culex pipiens. Only five ANK genes were polymorphic in the genomes of incompatible Wolbachia variants but none correlated with the CI pattern obtained with fifteen mosquito strains (representing fourteen Wolbachia variants). Further analysis of ANK gene expression evidenced host- and sex-dependent variations, which did not improve the correlation. Taken together, these data do not support the direct implication of ANK genes in CI determinism.