AUTHOR=Pramono Ajeng K. , Hidayanti Ardhiani K. , Tagami Yohsuke , Ando Hiroki 

TITLE=Bacterial community and genome analysis of cytoplasmic incompatibility-inducing Wolbachia in American serpentine leafminer, Liriomyza trifolii

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Microbiology

VOLUME=15

YEAR=2024

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/microbiology/articles/10.3389/fmicb.2024.1304401

DOI=10.3389/fmicb.2024.1304401

ISSN=1664-302X

ABSTRACT=<p><italic>Liriomyza trifolii</italic>, an agricultural pest, is occasionally infected by <italic>Wolbachia.</italic> A <italic>Wolbachia</italic> strain present in <italic>Liriomyza trifolii</italic> is associated with cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI) effects, leading to the death of embryos resulting from incompatible crosses between antibiotic-treated or naturally <italic>Wolbachia</italic>-free strain females and <italic>Wolbachia</italic>-infected males. In this study, high-throughput sequencing of hypervariable rRNA genes was employed to characterize the bacterial community in <italic>Wolbachia</italic>-infected <italic>L. trifolii</italic> without antibiotic treatment. The analysis revealed that <italic>Wolbachia</italic> dominates the bacterial community in <italic>L. trifolii</italic>, with minor presence of <italic>Acinetobacter</italic>, <italic>Pseudomonas</italic>, and <italic>Limnobacter</italic>. To elucidate the genetic basis of the CI phenotype, metagenomic sequencing was also conducted to assemble the genome of the <italic>Wolbachia</italic> strain. The draft-genome of the <italic>Wolbachia</italic> strain <italic>w</italic>Ltri was 1.35 Mbp with 34% GC content and contained 1,487 predicted genes. Notably, within the <italic>w</italic>Ltri genome, there are three distinct types of cytoplasmic incompatibility factor (<italic>cif</italic>) genes: Type I, Type III, and Type V <italic>cifA;B</italic>. These genes are likely responsible for inducing the strong cytoplasmic incompatibility observed in <italic>L. trifolii</italic>.</p>