Wolbachia

Wolbachia
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
"Candidatus Wolbachia bourtzisii" Ramirez-Puebla et al. 2015 "Candidatus Wolbachia brugii" Ramirez-Puebla et al. 2015 "Candidatus Wolbachia collembolicola" Ramirez-Puebla et al. 2015 "Candidatus Wolbachia ivorensis" Ehounoud et al. 2016 Wolbachia melophagi (Nöller 1917) Philip 1956 (Approved Lists 1980) "Candidatus Wolbachia multihospitum" Ramirez-Puebla et al. 2015 "Candidatus Wolbachia onchocercicola" Ramirez-Puebla et al. 2015 Wolbachia pipientis Hertig 1936 (Approved Lists 1980)

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]