New Publication from Dylan Schultz: Comparative Genomics of the Endosymbiont Cardinium Causing Reproductive Manipulation in Encarsia Parasitoid Wasps

Dylan Schultz recently published an article which assembled and compared the genomes of different strains of the endosymbiotic bacteria Cardinium. While all of these Cardinium strains reside within parasitoid wasps in the genus Encarsia, they have different impacts on their hosts. Such effects include one Cardinium strain which manipulates the reproductive success of its wasp host and two strains associated with converting genetic male Encarsia offspring into females. This study highlights some key similarities and differences between the Cardinium genomes and highlights genes which may be used by these Cardinium strains to impact their hosts.

Read the full article to learn more about this exciting work!
Link: https://doi.org/10.1002/mbo3.70084