Query: NC_009488:327285 Orientia tsutsugamushi str. Boryong, complete genome Lineage: Orientia tsutsugamushi; Orientia; Rickettsiaceae; Rickettsiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria General Information: This strain was isolated from a human in 1995 in Boryong, Korea. Causal agent of scrub typhus. This organism is the causative agent of scrub typhus, and like other members of the Rickettsiales is an obligate intracellular organism. Scrub typhus, which occurs in rural and agricultural areas, is one of the most common infectious diseases in southeast Asia where an estimated 1 million cases occur each year. Many cases are mild, but if left untreated, a variety of serious illnesses can arise and fatality rates can range from 1-35%. Transmission occurs via an insect vector through the bite of the larval trombiculid mite (chiggers). The bacterium is transmitted transovarially in mites (from females to their offspring).
- Sequence; - BLASTN hit (Low score = Light, High score = Dark) - hypothetical protein; - cds: hover for description
General Information: This organism is associated with severe and chronic periodontal (tissues surrounding and supporting the tooth) diseases. Progression of the disease is caused by colonization by this organism in an anaerobic environment in host tissues and severe progression results in loss of the tissues supporting the tooth and eventually loss of the tooth itself. The black pigmentation characteristic of this bacterium comes from iron acquisition that does not use the typical siderophore system of other bacteria but accumulates hemin. Peptides appear to be the predominant carbon and energy source of this organism, perhaps in keeping with its ability to destroy host tissue. Oxygen tolerance systems play a part in establishment of the organism in the oral cavity, including a superoxide dismutase. Pathogenic factors include extracellular adhesins that mediate interactions with other bacteria as well as the extracellular matrix, and a host of degradative enzymes that are responsible for tissue degradation and spread of the organism including the gingipains, which are trypsin-like cysteine proteases.