Query: NC_007292:1 Candidatus Blochmannia pennsylvanicus str. BPEN, complete genome
Lineage: Blochmannia pennsylvanicus; Blochmannia; Enterobacteriaceae; Enterobacteriales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Endosymbiont of ants. This endosymbiont lives in ants of the genus Camponotus. This microbe lives within host cells (bacteriocytes and ant ovaries) and is passed to offspring via vertical transmission. Primary endosymbiont of carpenter ant, Camponotus pennsylvanicus. USA: Falmouth, Massachusetts.
Subject: NC_012416:531772 Wolbachia sp. wRi, complete genome
Lineage: Wolbachia; Wolbachia; Anaplasmataceae; Rickettsiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Endosymbiont. Obligate intracellular bacterium infects around 20% of all insect species. Naturally infects Drosophila simulans and induces almost complete cytoplasmic incompatibility in its host. Wolbachia sp. subsp. Drosophila simulans (strain wRi) is an intracellular proteobacterium that infect insects as well as isopods, spiders, scorpions, mites, and filarial nematodes. It is maternally inherited and induces reproductive alterations of insect populations by male killing, feminization, parthenogenesis, or cytoplasmic incompatibility. In insect populations, Wolbachia sp. induce reproductive manipulations to enhance their own spreading. The most frequently observed reproductive abnormality is cytoplasmic incompatibility, where uninfected females are unable to produce offspring with infected males, whereas infected females can produce offspring with both infected and uninfected males, thus creating a reproductive advantage for infected females. Other spectacular effects of Wolbachia sp. infections are male embryo killing, feminization, and parthenogenesis induction.