Here we show variation between incompatible Culex strains in two Wolbachia ankyrin repeat - encoding genes associated with a prophage region, one of which is sex - specifically expressed in some strains, and also a direct effect of
the host nuclear genome on CI rescue.
While retroviruses generally only infect dividing cells (because their access to the
host genome is thought to rely on the breakdown of the
nuclear envelope that occurs in mitosis [Roe et al., 1993]-RRB-, lentiviruses are a genus of the retroviral family that can infect non-dividing cells (possibly through the use of
nuclear localization signals by the viral components [Bukrinsky et al., 1992]-RRB-, and thus, offer an advantage when transducing certain cell types that exhibit limited cell division (e.g., neurons).