Query: NC_008312:5357567 Trichodesmium erythraeum IMS101, complete genome
Lineage: Trichodesmium erythraeum; Trichodesmium; ; Oscillatoriales; Cyanobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Trichodesmium erythraeum strain IMS101 was isolated from the North Carolina coast in 1992 and grows in straight filaments. Filamentous marine cyanobacterium. This filamentous marine cyanobacterium is a nitrogen-fixing organism that contribues a significant amount of the global fixed nitrogen each year. These bacteria are unusual in that nitrogen fixation takes place in a differentiated cell called the diazocyte which is different from the nitrogen-fixing differentiated cell (heterocyst) found in other cyanobacteria. The diazocyte is developed in order to protect the oxygen-sensitive nitrogenases and includes a number of changes including production of more membranes and down-regulation of photosynthetic activity during times of peak nitrogen fixation (noontime). This organism gives the Red Sea its name when large blooms appear and is one of the organisms most often associated with large blooms in marine waters.
Subject: NC_004557:2607073 Clostridium tetani E88, complete genome
Lineage: Clostridium tetani; Clostridium; Clostridiaceae; Clostridiales; Firmicutes; Bacteria
General Information: This strain is a virulent nonsporulating variant of strain Massachusetts used in vaccine production. Causes tetanus. This genus comprises about 150 metabolically diverse species of anaerobes that are ubiquitous in virtually all anoxic habitats where organic compounds are present, including soils, aquatic sediments and the intestinal tracts of animals and humans. This shape is attributed to the presence of endospores that develop under conditions unfavorable for vegetative growth and distend single cells terminally or sub-terminally. Spores germinate under conditions favorable for vegetative growth, such as anaerobiosis and presence of organic substrates. It is believed that present day Mollicutes (Eubacteria) have evolved regressively (i.e., by genome reduction) from gram-positive clostridia-like ancestors with a low GC content in DNA. Known opportunistic toxin-producing pathogens in animals and humans. Some species are capable of producing organic solvents (acetone, ethanol, etc,), molecular hydrogen and other useful compounds. This organism causes tetanus (lockjaw) in humans. At the tissue level, the bacterium then releases an exotoxin called tetanospasmin that causes certain nervous system irregularities by means of retrograde tramsmission through neurons to the brain. If nervous impulses cannot be checked by normal inhibitory mechanisms, it produces the generalized muscular spasms characteristic of tetanus.