Query: NC_016516:2380131 Propionibacterium acnes TypeIA2 P.acn33 chromosome, complete Lineage: Propionibacterium acnes; Propionibacterium; Propionibacteriaceae; Actinomycetales; Actinobacteria; Bacteria General Information: This bacterium is the most common gram-positive, non-spore forming, anaerobic rod encountered in clinical specimens. The causative agent of acne, it typically grows as an obligate anaerobe. Some strains are aerotolerant, but still show better growth as an anaerobe. It has the ability to produce propionic acid, as its name suggests. It also has the ability to produce catalase along with indole, nitrate, or both indole and nitrate. Propionibacterium resembles Corynebacterium in morphology and arrangement, but is non-toxigenic. It is a common resident of the pilosebaceous (hair follicle) glands of the human skin. The bacteria release lipases to digest a surplus of the skin oil, sebum, that has been produced. The combination of digestive products (fatty acids) and bacterial antigens stimulates an intense local inflammation that bursts the hair follicle. Since acne is caused in part from an infection, it can be suppressed with topical and oral antibiotics such as clindamycin, erythromycin, or tetracycline. Some other forms of therapy include chemicals that enhance skin removal or slow the production of sebum.
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General Information: This strain (ATCC 31267) was isolated and characterized in 1978 by R. Burg and colleagues from a soil sample collected in Shizuoka Prefecture, Japan. Antibiotic-producing bacterium. The characteristic earthy smell of freshly plowed soil is actually attributed to the aromatic terpenoid geosmin produced by species of Streptomyces. There are currently 364 known species of this genus, many of which are the most important industrial producers of antibiotics and other secondary metabolites of antibacterial, antifungal, antiviral, and antitumor nature, as well as immunosuppressants, antihypercholesterolemics, etc. Streptomycetes are crucial in the soil environment because their diverse metabolism allows them to degrade the insoluble remains of other organisms, including recalcitrant compounds such as lignocelluloses and chitin. Streptomycetes produce both substrate and aerial mycelium. The latter shows characteristic modes of branching, and in the course of the streptomycete complex life cycle, these hyphae are partly transformed into chains of spores, which are often called conidia or arthrospores. An important feature in Streptomyces is the presence of type-I peptidoglycan in the cell walls that contains characteristic interpeptide glycine bridges. Another remarkable trait of streptomycetes is that they contain very large (~8 million base pairs which is about twice the size of most bacterial genomes) linear chromosomes with distinct telomeres. These rearrangements consist of the deletion of several hundred kilobases, often associated with the amplification of an adjacent sequence, and lead to metabolic diversity within the Streptomyces group. Sequencing of several strains of Streptomyces is aimed partly on understanding the mechanisms involved in these diversification processes. This organism is a well known producer of the anti-parasitic agent avermectin which is widely used to rid livestock of worm and insect infestations and to protect large numbers of people from river blindness in sub-Saharan Africa.