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Abstract
Dirofilaria immitis is the parasite responsible for heartworm disease in companion animals. Macrocyclic lactones (MLs) are the only preventive drugs on the market approved by the Food and Drug Administration in dogs and cats, however, ML resistant isolates have been positively identified. Wolbachia are mutualistic endosymbionts of D. immitis. It is therefore of interest to compare Wolbachia genomes from D. immitis isolates with different ML susceptibility status. We prepared Wolbachia samples from two ML susceptible and three resistant D. immitis isolates, and then obtained genomic data through next-generation sequencing. We identified 67 SNPs specific in resistant isolates, with 18 genes affected. Phylogenetic analysis using 564 orthologous genes confirms that Wolbachia from these D. immitis isolates are genetically different. These results reveal the relationship between Wolbachia from five D. immitis isolates and suggest that the specific genetic markers in Wolbachia may have the potential to differentiate susceptible and resistant heartworm isolates.