Wolbachia | |
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Transmission electron micrograph of Wolbachia within an insect cell Credit:Public Library of Science / Scott O'Neill | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Bacteria |
Phylum: | Pseudomonadota |
Class: | Alphaproteobacteria |
Order: | Rickettsiales |
Family: | Ehrlichiaceae |
Genus: | Wolbachia Hertig 1936 (Approved Lists 1980) |
Species | |
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Wolbachia is a genus of gram-negative bacteria that can either infect many species of arthropod as an intracellular parasite, or act as a mutualistic microbe in filarial nematodes.[1][2] It is one of the most common parasitic microbes of arthropods, and is possibly the most common reproductive parasite in the biosphere.[3] Its interactions with its hosts are often complex. Some host species cannot reproduce, or even survive, without Wolbachia colonisation. One study concluded that more than 16% of neotropical insect species carry bacteria of this genus,[4] and as many as 25 to 70% of all insect species are estimated to be potential hosts.[5]