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Background  The maternally inherited α-Proteobacteria  Wolbachia pipientis  is an obligate endosymbiont of nematodes and arthropods, in which they induce a variety of reproductive alterations, including Cytoplasmic Incompatibility (CI) and feminization. The genome of the feminizing  w VulC  Wolbachia  strain harboured by the isopod  Armadillidium vulgare  has been sequenced and is now at the final assembly step. It contains an unusually high number of ankyrin motif-containing genes, two of which are homologous to the phage-related  pk1  and  pk2  genes thought to contribute to the CI phenotype in  Culex pipiens . These genes encode putative bacterial effectors mediating  Wolbachia -host protein-protein interactions  via  their ankyrin motifs.    Results  To test whether these  Wolbachia  homologs are potentially involved in altering terrestrial isopod reproduction, we determined the distribution and expression of both  pk1  and  pk2  genes in the 3  Wolbachia  strains that induce CI and in 5 inducing feminization of their isopod hosts. Aside from the genes being highly conserved, we found a substantial copy number variation among strains, and that is linked to prophage diversity. Transcriptional analyses revealed expression of one  pk2  allele ( pk2b2 ) only in the feminizing  Wolbachia  strains of isopods.    Conclusions  These results reveal the need to investigate the functions of  Wolbachia  ankyrin gene products, in particular those of Pk2, and their host targets with respect to host sex manipulation.

The expression of one ankyrin pk2 allele of the WO prophage is correlated with the Wolbachia feminizing effect in isopods