Query: NC_014802:716699 Campylobacter jejuni subsp. jejuni ICDCCJ07001 chromosome, complete
Lineage: Campylobacter jejuni; Campylobacter; Campylobacteraceae; Campylobacterales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Gram-negative, microaerophilic, flagellate, spiral bacterium, Campylobacter species are the leading cause of food-borne gastroenteritis in developed countries. Infection with C. jejuni is the most frequent antecedent to a form of neuromuscular paralysis known as Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). Strain ICDCCJ07001 was isolated following a GBS outbreak in Shuangyang, a town in northern China in 2007, from a severely affected 15 year-old girl GBS patient who had been on a ventilator for 180 days. Her clinical symptoms were motor axonal neuropathy. This organism is the leading cause of bacterial food poisoning (campylobacteriosis) in the world, and is more prevalent than Salmonella enteritis (salmonellosis). Found throughout nature, it can colonize the intestines of both mammals and birds, and transmission to humans occurs via contaminated food products. This organism can invade the epithelial layer by first attaching to epithelial cells, then penetrating through them. Systemic infections can also occur causing more severe illnesses.
Subject: NC_007530:4117071 Bacillus anthracis str. 'Ames Ancestor', complete genome
Lineage: Bacillus anthracis; Bacillus; Bacillaceae; Bacillales; Firmicutes; Bacteria
General Information: This is the type strain (0581, A2084, genotype 62, Group A3.b) for Bacillus anthracis and contains the two virulence plasmids, pOX1 and pOX2, that encode anthrax toxin and capsule, respectively, making this a virulent strain. This strain is considered the "gold standard" for B. anthracis. Under starvation conditions this group of bacteria initiate a pathway that leads to endospore formation, a process that is thoroughly studied and is a model system for prokaryotic development and differentiation. Spores are highly resistant to heat, cold, dessication, radiation, and disinfectants, and enable the organism to persist in otherwise inhospitable environments. Under more inviting conditions the spores germinate to produce vegetative cells. This organism was the first to be shown to cause disease by Dr. Louis Pasteur (the organism, isolated from sick animals, was grown in the laboratory and then used to infect healthy animals and make them sick). This organism was also the first for which an attenuated strain was developed as a vaccine. Herbivorous animals become infected with the organism when they ingest spores from the soil whereas humans become infected when they come into contact with a contaminated animal. PA/LF and PA/EF complexes are internalized by host cells where the LF (metalloprotease) and EF (calmodulin-dependent adenylate cyclase) components act. At high levels LF induces cell death and release of the bacterium while EF increases host susceptibility to infection and promotes fluid accumulation in the cells.