Query: NC_014029:2138000 Yersinia pestis Z176003 chromosome, complete genome Lineage: Yersinia pestis; Yersinia; Enterobacteriaceae; Enterobacteriales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria General Information: It was isolated from a dead marmot in Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Gram-negative straight rods, sometimes approaching a spherical shape. Y.pestis is always nonmotile. It is the causative agent of plague which is primarily a disease of wild rodents. Y.pestis is transmitted among wild rodents by fleas, in which the bacteria multiply and block the esophagus and the pharynx. The fleas regurgitate the bacteria when they take their next blood meal. Bacteria are transmitted subcutaneously to humans by the bite of infected fleas, but also by air, especially during pandemics of disease. Infective flea bites produce the typical bubonic form of plague in humans.
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General Information: This strain (strain BS512; serotype 18) was originally isolated from a 12-year-old boy in Arizona, USA by Dr. Nancy Stockbine. It is a member of Group 1 as determined by limited sequence analysis and can invade HeLa cells. Pathogenicity and virulence have been verified during in vitro experimentation, and multiple plasmids are present in this strain. This genus is named for the Japanese scientist (Shiga) who first discovered these organisms in the 1890s. They are closely related to the Escherichia group, and may be considered the same species. These organisms are human-specific pathogens that are transmitted via contaminated food and water and are the leading causes of endemic bacillary dysentery, causing over 160 million cases of infection and 1 million deaths yearly worldwide. The bacteria infect the epithelial lining of the colon, causing acute inflammation by entering the host cell cytoplasm and spreading intercellularly. Shigella spp. are extremely virulent organisms that can cause an active infection after a very low exposure. Both the type III secretion system, which delivers effector molecules into the host cell, and some of the translocated effectors such as the invasion plasmid antigens (Ipas), are encoded on the plasmid. The bacterium produces a surface protein that localizes to one pole of the cell (IcsA) which binds to and promotes actin polymerization, resulting in movement of the bacterium through the cell cytoplasm, and eventually to neighboring cells, which results in inflammatory destruction of the mucosal lining. This species is uncommon except in India, where it was first isolated. Progression to clinical dysentery occurs in most patients infected with this organism.