Pre_GI: SWBIT SVG BLASTN

Query: NC_009697:1 Clostridium botulinum A str. ATCC 19397 chromosome, complete

Lineage: Clostridium botulinum; Clostridium; Clostridiaceae; Clostridiales; Firmicutes; Bacteria

General Information: Clostridium botulinum A ATCC 19397 (NCTC 4587, NCTC 7272) is a stock, type A toxin-producing, laboratory strain of known toxicity. Produces botulinum, one of the most potent toxins known. 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. This organism produces one of the most potent and deadly neurotoxins known, a botulinum toxin that prevents the release of acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction, thereby inhibiting muscle contraction and causing paralysis. In most cases the diseased person dies of asphyxiation as a result of paralysis of chest muscles involved in breathing. The spores are heat-resistant and can survive in inadequately heated, prepared, or processed foods. Spores germinate under favorable conditions (anaerobiosis and substrate-rich environment) and bacteria start propagating very rapidly, producing the toxin. Botulinum toxin, and C. botulinum cells, has been found in a wide variety of foods, including canned ones. Almost any food that has a high pH (above 4.6) can support growth of the bacterium.

Subject: NC_012850:3867743 Rhizobium leguminosarum bv. trifolii WSM1325, complete genome

Lineage: Rhizobium leguminosarum; Rhizobium; Rhizobiaceae; Rhizobiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria

General Information: Temp: Mesophile; Habitat: Host, Root nodule. This biovar is a symbiont of clover plants and is important commercially as it is used in the agricultural industry. Strain WSM1325 is compatible with many perennial clovers of Mediterranean origin used in farming, such as T. pratense, and is therefore one of the most important clover inoculants but is incompatible with American and African perennial clovers, such as those nodulated by the dissimilar strain WSM2304. This organism, like other Rhizobia, establishes a symbiotic relationship with a legume plant, providing nitrogen in exchange for a protected environment. The legume roots secrete flavonoids and isoflavonoids which the bacteria recognize and use to turn on genes involved in root nodulation. Many of the root nodulation genes are involved in synthesis and secretion of a nodule inducing signal, a lipochito-oligosaccharide molecule, which the plant recognizes, triggering nodule formation. The bacterium is endocytosed and exists inside a membrane bound organelle, the symbiosome, and fixes nitrogen for the plant cell while the host cell provides carbon compounds for the bacterium to grow on. The nitrogen fixation is important as it obviates the need for expensive and environmentally damaging fertilizer use.