Characterization of an intergenic polymorphic site (pp-hC1A_5) in Wolbachia pipientis (wPip).

Wolbachia pipientis (wPip) is an intracellular bacterium causing cytoplasmic incompatibility in arthropods, including mosquitoes of the Culex pipiens complex. Here, we present a method useful for genotyping within the wPip group. Primers were designed using a Tandem Repeat Finder program to amplify an intergenic, polymorphic site (pp-hC1A_5) of wPip. The polymorphic site is located between genes that code for polynucleotide phosphorylase and a hypothetical protein (C1A_5). Comparison of these wPip genomic regions from C. pipiens mosquitoes sampled in different geographic regions revealed deletions of fragments that proved useful in phylogenetic analysis.