Pre_GI: SWBIT SVG BLASTN

Query: NC_012633:928500 Rickettsia africae ESF-5, complete genome

Lineage: Rickettsia africae; Rickettsia; Rickettsiaceae; Rickettsiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria

General Information: This organism was isolated from a cattle tick, Amblyomma variegatum, collected in Ethiopia. This organism, a member of the spotted fever group of the Rickettsiales, is found in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. Rickettsia africae causes a flu-like illness, characterized by a mild fever and severe headache, without the skin rash common to other spotted fever group Rickettsia species. Members of this genus, like other Rickettsial organisms such as Neorickettsia and Anaplasma, are obligate intracellular pathogens. In both groups, the bacteria are transmitted via an insect, usually a tick, to a host organism where they target endothelial cells and sometimes macrophages. They attach via an adhesin, rickettsial outer membrane protein A, and are internalized where they persist as cytoplasmically free organisms.

Subject: NC_007354:845500 Ehrlichia canis str. Jake, complete genome

Lineage: Ehrlichia canis; Ehrlichia; Anaplasmataceae; Rickettsiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria

General Information: This strain was isolated in 1989 in North Carolina, USA from a 2-year-old male dog. This organisms causes canine monocytic ehrlichiosis, which is a tick-born disease that causes severe morbidity in domesticated and wild dogs. The brown dog tick, Rhipicephalus sanguineus, transfers the organism from its salivary glands to the animal when feeding. Persistence in the vacuole leads to replication and cell division and eventual release from the cell which leads to further spreading of the bacterium throughout the host. The end result is an increase in platelet count and anemia.