Culex pipiens crossing type diversity is governed by an amplified and polymorphic operon of Wolbachia

• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-017-02749-w
• Publication Date: 2018-01-16T16:28:33Z
• Authors: Manon Bonneau; Celestine Atyame; Marwa Beji; Fabienne Justy; Martin Cohen-Gonsaud; Mathieu Sicard; Mylène Weill
• Keywords: Culex pipiens; Cytoplasmic incompatibility

Culex pipiens mosquitoes are infected with Wolbachia (wPip) that cause an important diversity of cytoplasmic incompatibilities (CIs). Functional transgenic studies have implicated the cidA-cidB operon from wPip and its homolog in wMel CI between Drosophila males uninfected females. However, genetic basis induced by different strains was unknown. We show here remarkable C. complex is due to presence, all tested genomes, several copies operon, which undergoes diversification through recombination events. In 183 isofemale lines collected worldwide, specific variations gene repertoires found match crossing types. The consistent hypothesis a toxin-antitoxin system cidB co-diversifies cidA, particularly putative domains reciprocal interactions.