Query: NC_010513:542312 Xylella fastidiosa M12 chromosome, complete genome Lineage: Xylella fastidiosa; Xylella; Xanthomonadaceae; Xanthomonadales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria General Information: Causal agent of citrus variegated chlorosis. This organism was first identified in 1993 as the causal agent of citrus variegated chlorosis, a disease that affects varieties of sweet oranges. This disease was first noticed in Brazil in 1987, and it greatly affects commercial orchards resulting in crop devastation worldwide. Other strains of this species cause a range of diseases in mulberry, pear, almond, elm, sycamore, oak, maple, pecan and coffee which collectively result in multimillion dollar devastation of economically important plants. The bacteria are transmitted from the gut of the insect vector (sharpshooter leafhopper) to the plant xylem (water conducting system) when the insect feeds. Xylella fastidiosa is similar to Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris in that it produces a wide variety of pathogenic factors for colonization in a host-specific manner including a large number of fimbrial and afimbrial adhesins for attachment. It does not contain a type III secretion system, but possesses genes for a type II secretion system for export of exoenzymes that degrade the plant cell wall and allow the bacterium to colonize the plant xylem. The cell produces an exopolysaccharide that is similar to the xanthan gum produced by Xanthomonas campestris pv. campestris.
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General Information: This subspecies is virulent in humans, and the strain is a clinical isolate that is also virulent in an animal model. Originally isolated from a human case of tularemia in 1951. There are a large number of insertion sequences including a mariner element, which is a transposon typically found in eukaryotes and is the first instance of this element to be found in a microbe, which may have acquired it during transit through one of the insect vectors. Causative agent of tularemia. This organism was first identified by Edward Francis as the causative agent of a plague-like illness that affected squirrels in Tulare county in California in the early part of the 20th century. The organism now bears his name. The disease, which has been noted throughout recorded history, can be transmitted to humans by infected ticks or deerflies, infected meat, or by aerosol, and thus is a potential bioterrorism agent. This organism has a high infectivity rate, and can invade phagocytic and nonphagocytic cells, multiplying rapidly. Once within a macrophage, the organism can escape the phagosome and live in the cytosol. It is an aquatic organism, and can be found living inside protozoans, similar to what is observed with Legionella.