Query: NC_011989:2795811 Agrobacterium vitis S4 chromosome 1, complete sequence
Lineage: Agrobacterium vitis; Agrobacterium; Rhizobiaceae; Rhizobiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Agrobacterium vitis is the causative agent of crown gall disease in grapes. Agrobacterium are Gram-negative, motile, soil-dwelling plant pathogens with the species name given based on the disease phenotype associated with the bacteria. Disease causing Agrobacterium spp. possess a tumor-inducing (Ti) plasmid, which carries genes for the formation of opines. A segment of the Ti plasmid gets transferred to the plant cell and integrates into the host cell genome. The plant cell then starts synthesizing opines, which can be catabolized by Agrobacterium spp, but not by the plant cells.
Subject: NC_012811:317308 Methylobacterium extorquens AM1 megaplasmid, complete sequence
Lineage: Methylobacterium extorquens; Methylobacterium; Methylobacteriaceae; Rhizobiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: First isolated in 1960 in Oxford, England, as an airborne contaminant growing on methylamine. This strain can grow on methylamine or methanol, but not methane. This organism is capable of growth on one-carbon compounds such as methanol. Methanol is oxidized to formaldehyde which is then used metabolically to generate either energy or biomass. These bacteria are commonly found in the environment, especially associated with plants which produce methanol when metabolizing pectin during cell wall synthesis. At least 25 genes are required for this complex process of converting methanol to formaldehyde and this specialized metabolic pathway is of great interest.