Pre_GI: SWBIT SVG BLASTN

Query: NC_015662:15641 Buchnera aphidicola (Cinara tujafilina) chromosome, complete

Lineage: Buchnera aphidicola; Buchnera; Enterobacteriaceae; Enterobacteriales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria

General Information: It is believed that the Buchnera provide the essential nutrients the host lacks. Besides a nutritional co-dependence, due to a co-existence of millions of years, Buchnera have lost the ability to produce cell surface components such as lipopolysaccharides. This makes for an obligate endosymbiont relationship between host and Buchnera. Buchnera are prokaryotic cells which belong to the gamma-Proteobacteria, closely related to the Enterobacteriaceae family. Phylogenetic studies using 16S rRNA indicate that the symbiotic relationship was established around 200-250 million years ago. Since Buchnera are closely related to Escherichia coli and Haemophilus influenzae, comparative genomic studies can shed light on the evolutionary mechanisms of intracellular endosymbiosis as well as the different underlying molecular basis between organisms with parasitic behavior and symbionts.

Subject: NC_007354:233991 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.