Pre_GI: SWBIT SVG BLASTN

Query: NC_009727:1822877 Coxiella burnetii Dugway 7E9-12, complete genome

Lineage: Coxiella burnetii; Coxiella; Coxiellaceae; Legionellales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria

General Information: Coxiella burnetii Dugway 5J108-111 was isolated from rodents in Utah, USA. 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.

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Subject: NC_008593:196257 Clostridium novyi NT, complete genome

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

General Information: This strain (NT) was created so that it lacks the lethal toxin. Injection of spores of this organism into mice harboring tumors resulted in an increased immune response and destruction of the tumor tissue in a method known as COBALT (combination bacteriolytic therapy) when the spores along with chemotherapeutic agents or radiation are co-administered. The anaerobic bacteria preferentially target hypoxic cancer tissue and stimulate immune responses to that tissue. 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. Some species are capable of producing organic solvents (acetone, ethanol, etc,), molecular hydrogen and other useful compounds. Clostridium novyi is an anaerobic bacterium found in soil, aquatic sediments, and intestinal tract of both animals and humans. Some types produce lethal toxins.