Study of the associations between symbiotic bacteria and
parasitic arthropods continues to elucidate an increasingly
complex suite of relationships. Sucking and chewing lice depend
on symbiotic bacteria that provide essential nutrients to
supplement their diet. These bacteria have now been
characterized as members of a group of gamma-Proteobacteria
found in a variety of insects. Other symbiotic bacteria,
particularly the rickettsia-like genus Wolbachia are being
reported from increasing numbers of insect taxa where their role
in cytoplasmic incompatibility, parthenogenesis induction, male
killing, feminization and overall sex ratio distortion has
received a great deal of attention. PCR amplification of nine
species of sucking and chewing lice using the wsp gene primer
set determined the presence of Wolbachia. Detailed sequencing
information allowed the construction of a phylogenetic tree
relating the isolates from the various louse species. Sequencing
also established that most of the louse species used in ou