Molecular Identification of a Wolbachia endosymbiont in Trichogramma dendrolimi

Wolbachia is a common and widespread group of bacteria found in arthropods. These bacteria have evolved various mechanisms for manipulating reproduction of their host. The presence of Wolbachia in a lab strain of the arrhenotokous species Trichogramma dendrolimi was observed by the amplification and sequencing of part of the wsp gene. Aligning the resulting sequences with already published ones, the phylogenetic relationships between Wolbachia found in Trichogramma dendrolimi and in other Trichogramma wasps was established, and the phylogenetic relationships of Wolbachia in Trichogramma were not congruent with their hosts Trichogramma . Some factors contributing to this uncongruence are discussed here.