Abstract
Wolbachia Hertig, 1936, is an intracytoplasmic bacterium that infects several species of arthropods by causing deterioration of host reproduction. In terrestrial isopods, Wolbachia infection can generate cytoplasmic incompatibility and feminization. This work examined two samples of Wolbachia from two different stations in Tunisia (Lebna in the North-East, and Bizerte in the North), and the study is limited to the host species Porcellio laevis Latreille, 1804. Enumeration of males and females revealed a very strong imbalance in the sex ratio in favour of females in the former population, and intersexual females in the latter. Dissection of the genital apparatus of various phenotypically normal male specimens allowed some malformations to be noted. These males were marked by the presence of an oviduct joined to the vas deferens, and one to three hypertrophied androgenic glands at the top of the testicles. Further molecular study confirmed the presence of the endosymbiont in the two populations. Sequencing of the P. laevis wsp gene from the Bizerte population revealed a high degree of identity with the Wolbachia endosymbiont of Armadillidium vulgare.
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