Wolbachia

Abstract Wol.ba'chia. M.L. fem. n. Wolbachia named after S. Burt Wolbach, who described the rickettsial agent of Rocky Mountain spotted fever and, in collaboration with Marshall Hertig, studied the rickettsia‐like microorganisms of insects. Pleomorphic bacteria that appear as small rods ( 0 . 5–1 . 3 µm in length ) and coccoid forms ( 0 . 25–1 µm ); large forms ( 1–1 . 8 µm in diameter ) may be observed . Grow in vacuoles of host cells . Do not grow outside of cells. Associated with arthropods and filarial nematodes . Responsible for reproductive alterations in arthropods. With few exceptions, not pathogenic for the host. Strains associated with nematodes responsible for indirect pathogenesis in humans . Susceptibility to doxycycline and rifampin demonstrated in vitro and in vivo . The mol % G + C of the DNA is : not determined. Type species : Wolbachia pipientis Hertig 1936, 472. Taxonomic and Nomenclature Notes According to the List of Prokaryotic names with Standing in Nomenclature (LPSN), the taxonomic status of the genus Wolbachia is: correct name (last update, February 2025) * . LPSN classification: Bacteria / Pseudomonadati / Pseudomonadota / Alphaproteobacteria / Rickettsiales / Ehrlichiaceae / Wolbachia The genus Wolbachia can also be recovered in the Genome Taxonomy Database (GTDB) as g__Wolbachia (version v220) ** . GTDB classification: d__Bacteria / p__Pseudomonadota / c__Alphaproteobacteria / o__Rickettsiales / f__Anaplasmataceae / g__Wolbachia * Meier‐Kolthoff et al. ( 2022 ). Nucleic Acids Res , 50 , D801 – D807 ; DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkab902 ** Parks et al. ( 2022 ). Nucleic Acids Res , 50 , D785 – D794 ; DOI: 10.1093/nar/gkab776