A single synonymous nucleotide change impacts the male-killing phenotype of prophage WO gene .

are the most widespread bacterial endosymbionts in animals. Within arthropods, these maternally transmitted bacteria can selfishly hijack host reproductive processes to increase the relative fitness of their transmitting females. One such form of reproductive parasitism called male killing, or the selective killing of infected males, is recapitulated to degrees by transgenic expression of the prophage () gene.

Transgenic Testing Does Not Support a Role for Additional Candidate Genes in Male Killing or Cytoplasmic Incompatibility.

Endosymbiotic bacteria in the genus remarkably infect nearly half of all arthropod species. They spread in part because of manipulations of host sexual reproduction that enhance the maternal transmission of the bacteria, including male killing (death of infected males) and unidirectional cytoplasmic incompatibility (CI; death of offspring from infected fathers and uninfected mothers). Recent discoveries identified several genes in prophage WO of (, , and ) that fully or partially recapitulate male killing or CI when transgenically expressed in However, it is not yet fully resolved if other gene candidates contribute to these phenotypes.