Query: NC_009465:224564 Candidatus Vesicomyosocius okutanii HA, complete genome
Lineage: Calyptogena okutanii thioautotrophic gill symbiont; sulfur-oxidizing symbionts; ; sulfur-oxidizing symbionts; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: This strain was collected off Hatsushima island in Sagami Bay, Japan. Calyptogena okutanii (deep-sea clam) thioautotrophic gill symbiont. The bivalve marine species Calyptogena okutanii depends on sulfur-oxidizing symbiotic bacteria housed in its gill tissues for its sole nutritional support. The symbiont is transmitted vertically between generations via the clam's eggs. This anaerobic symbiosis oxidizes hydrogen sulfide as an energy source and fixes carbon dioxide into organic compounds.
Subject: NC_002971:1379567 Coxiella burnetii RSA 493, complete genome
Lineage: Coxiella burnetii; Coxiella; Coxiellaceae; Legionellales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Causes Q-fever. This organism is widely distributed in nature and can cause infections in reptiles, birds, and mammals. It causes Q fever, or 'query' fever, an atypical pneumonia first associated with abattoir workers in Australia. Transmission may be through insect vectors such as ticks that have bitten an infected wild or domesticated animal, or through an aerosol produced by domesticated animals such as sheep or cattle. The presence of a plasmid is believed to be associated with virulence and pathogenicity, however C. burnetii isolates containing plasmid QpDG are avirulent in guinea pigs and plasmidless isolates have been associated with endocarditis in humans. Coxiella burnetii has a developmental life cycle, and can grow vegetatively through binary fission, or asymmetrically and produce a spore-like cell. The spore-like cell may enable the organism to exist extracellularly for small amounts of time. This bacterium is an obligate intracellular pathogen. It is endocytosed by a host cell, a macrophage for example, and lives and replicates inside the phagolysozome, a unique property of this organism. The genome encodes proteins that have a higher than average pI, which may enable adaptation to the acidic environment of the phagolysozome. The chromosome also contains genes for a number of detoxification and stress response proteins such as dismutases that allow growth in the oxidative environment. The type IV system is similar to the one found in Legionella, which may be important for intracellular survival. This organism produces numerous ankyrin-repeat proteins that may be involved in interactions with the host cell. The genome has 83 pseudogenes, which may be a result of the typical genome-wide degradation observed with other intracellular organisms and also has a group I intron in the 23S ribosomal RNA gene.