Query: NC_016638:429437 Mycoplasma haemocanis str. Illinois chromosome, complete genome Lineage: Mycoplasma haemocanis; Mycoplasma; Mycoplasmataceae; Mycoplasmatales; Tenericutes; Bacteria General Information: Mycoplasma haemocanis has been widely studied due to its role as a veterinary pathogen that usually causes latent infection in the dog until splenectomy or immunosuppression trigger overt disease. The strain Illinois of M. haemocanis is pathogenic to the host; it was harvested from the blood of a naturally infected 8-year-old splenectomized dog and used for this genomic sequencing project.
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General Information: This strain was isolated from a case of infant botulism in Kyoto, Japan in 1978. This organism produces one of the most potent and deadly neurotoxins known, a botulinum toxin that prevents the release of acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction, thereby inhibiting muscle contraction and causing paralysis. In most cases the diseased person dies of asphyxiation as a result of paralysis of chest muscles involved in breathing. The spores are heat-resistant and can survive in inadequately heated, prepared, or processed foods. Spores germinate under favorable conditions (anaerobiosis and substrate-rich environment) and bacteria start propagating very rapidly, producing the toxin.Botulinum toxin, and C. botulinum cells, has been found in a wide variety of foods, including canned ones. Almost any food that has a high pH (above 4.6) can support growth of the bacterium. Honey is the most common vehicle for infection in infants. Food poisoning through C. botulinum is the most frequent type of infection caused by this bacterium. The wound botulism that occurs when C. botulinum infects an individual via an open wound is much rarer and is very similar to tetanus disease. There are several types of botulinum toxin known (type A through type F), all of them being neurotoxic polypeptides. The most common and widely distributed are strains and serovars of C. botulinum that produce type A toxin.