Query: NC_012416:4973 Wolbachia sp. wRi, complete genome Lineage: Wolbachia; Wolbachia; Anaplasmataceae; Rickettsiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria General Information: Endosymbiont. Obligate intracellular bacterium infects around 20% of all insect species. Naturally infects Drosophila simulans and induces almost complete cytoplasmic incompatibility in its host. Wolbachia sp. subsp. Drosophila simulans (strain wRi) is an intracellular proteobacterium that infect insects as well as isopods, spiders, scorpions, mites, and filarial nematodes. It is maternally inherited and induces reproductive alterations of insect populations by male killing, feminization, parthenogenesis, or cytoplasmic incompatibility. In insect populations, Wolbachia sp. induce reproductive manipulations to enhance their own spreading. The most frequently observed reproductive abnormality is cytoplasmic incompatibility, where uninfected females are unable to produce offspring with infected males, whereas infected females can produce offspring with both infected and uninfected males, thus creating a reproductive advantage for infected females. Other spectacular effects of Wolbachia sp. infections are male embryo killing, feminization, and parthenogenesis induction.
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General Information: 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. Honey is the most common vehicle for infection in infants. Food poisoning through C. botulinum is the most frequent type of infection caused by this bacterium. The wound botulism that occurs when C. botulinum infects an individual via an open wound is much rarer and is very similar to tetanus disease. There are several types of botulinum toxin known (type A through type F), all of them being neurotoxic polypeptides. The most common and widely distributed are strains and serovars of C. botulinum that produce type A toxin.