ArticleMolecular biology and evolution2021
Life and Death of Selfish Genes: Comparative Genomics Reveals the Dynamic Evolution of Cytoplasmic Incompatibility.
Article in Molecular biology and evolution, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 85 papers.
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85 citing papers in PubMed.
- Wolbachia strain wLhui induces temperature-dependent incomplete cytoplasmic incompatibility in the invasive pest Liriomyza huidobrensis with biocontrol potential.Pest management science · 2026Article
- Calibrating and documenting host-switching and evolution of incompatibility loci for two closely related Wolbachia clades.Genetics · 2026Article
- Genomic islands in Wolbachia prophages drive amplification and diversification of cytoplasmic incompatibility genes in Culex pipiens.Genetics · 2026Article
- Temperature-sensitive cytoplasmic incompatibility across divergent Wolbachia partly reflects cifB transcription, not endosymbiont density.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Analysis of the genomes of a male-killingMicrobial genomics · 2026Article
- Three decades of analyzing Wolbachia bacterial endosymbionts in arthropods: Trends and gaps.Parasitology research · 2026Review
- Genomics and reproductive biology of Leptopilina malgretoutensis (sp. nov.): an asexual parasitoid of Caribbean Drosophila.Genetics · 2026Article
- A human-associatediScience · 2026Article
- Spiroplasma Display an Intricate Continuum of Infection Heterogeneity and Persistence in Myrmica Ants.Molecular ecology · 2026Article
- Temperature-sensitive cytoplasmic incompatibility across divergentbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- From Adam's rib: the Siberian moth's female W chromosome is derived from its Z counterpart.Molecular biology and evolution · 2026Article
- Calibrating and documenting host-switching and evolution of incompatibility loci for two closely relatedbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Structure and Diversity of the Microbiome in Amazonian Sand Flies: Insights into Vector-Microbe Interactions.Microbial ecology · 2026Article
- Genomic stability and differential expression of type V cif genes inISME communications · 2026Article
- A co-speciation dilemma and a lifestyle transition with genomic consequences in Wolbachia of Neotropical Drosophila.BMC genomics · 2025Article
- Article
- Wolbachia Host Shifts and Widespread Occurrence of Reproductive Manipulation Loci in European Butterflies.Molecular ecology · 2025Article
- Single-cell genome analysis of a feminizingMicrobial genomics · 2025Article
- Deubiquitylases and nucleases in bacterial symbiont-induced cytoplasmic incompatibility.Biochemical Society transactions · 2025Review
- Evolutionary Diversification and Functions of the Candidate Male Killing Gene wmk.Genome biology and evolution · 2025Article
25 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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4 authors.
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Abstract
Cytoplasmic incompatibility is a selfish reproductive manipulation induced by the endosymbiont Wolbachia in arthropods. In males Wolbachia modifies sperm, leading to embryonic mortality in crosses with Wolbachia-free females. In females, Wolbachia rescues the cross and allows development to proceed normally. This provides a reproductive advantage to infected females, allowing the maternally transmitted symbiont to spread rapidly through host populations. We identified homologs of the genes underlying this phenotype, cifA and cifB, in 52 of 71 new and published Wolbachia genome sequences. They are strongly associated with cytoplasmic incompatibility. There are up to seven copies of the genes in each genome, and phylogenetic analysis shows that Wolbachia frequently acquires new copies due to pervasive horizontal transfer between strains. In many cases, the genes have subsequently acquired loss-of-function mutations to become pseudogenes. As predicted by theory, this tends to occur first in cifB, whose sole function is to modify sperm, and then in cifA, which is required to rescue the cross in females. Although cif genes recombine, recombination is largely restricted to closely related homologs. This is predicted under a model of coevolution between sperm modification and embryonic rescue, where recombination between distantly related pairs of genes would create a self-incompatible strain. Together, these patterns of gene gain, loss, and recombination support evolutionary models of cytoplasmic incompatibility.
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