Query: NC_002929:52500 Bordetella pertussis Tohama I, complete genome
Lineage: Bordetella pertussis; Bordetella; Alcaligenaceae; Burkholderiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: This strain was originally isolated from a patient with whooping cough and has been studied extensively for over 40 years. Causative agent of whooping cough. This group of organisms is capable of invading the respiratory tract of animals and causing severe diseases. They express a number of virulence factors in order to do this including filamentous hemagglutins for attachment, cytotoxins, and proteins that form a type III secretion system for transport of effector molecules into host cells. This organism, which is unable to persist in the environment, is a strict human pathogen that causes whooping cough. Once a common cause of death in children the development of a vaccine has greatly decreased the number of deaths due to Bordetella pertussis. However, this organism infects and estimated 39 million people and kills hundreds of thousands of people each year.
Subject: NC_010103:507482 Brucella canis ATCC 23365 chromosome I, complete sequence
Lineage: Brucella canis; Brucella; Brucellaceae; Rhizobiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Etiologic agent of canine brucellosis. They are highly infectious, and can be spread through contact with infected animal products or through the air, making them a potential bioterrorism agent. Once the organism has entered the body, it can become intracellular, and enter the blood and lymphatic regions, multiplying inside phagocytes before eventually causing bacteremia (spread of bacteria through the blood). Virulence may depend on a type IV secretion system which may promote intracellular growth by secreting important effector molecules. This bacterium is the causative agent of canine brucellosis. The main sources of infection are vaginal fluids of infected females and urine in males. The most significant symptoms are late abortions in bitches, epididymitis in males and infertility in both sexes, as well as generalized lymphadenitis, discospondylitis and uveitis. Human contagion is not frequent, although it has been reported, and is easily treated. B. canis can be differentiated from the other species of the genus Brucella (except B. ovis) in that it forms rugose colonies.