Query: NC_016801:394400 Corynebacterium diphtheriae C7 (beta) chromosome, complete genome
Lineage: Corynebacterium diphtheriae; Corynebacterium; Corynebacteriaceae; Actinomycetales; Actinobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: They may be found as members of the normal microflora of humans, where these bacteria find a suitable niche in virtually every anatomic site. This organism is the best known and most widely studied species of the genus. It is the causal agent of the disease diphtheria, a deadly infectious disease spreading from person to person by respiratory droplets from the throat through coughing and sneezing. In the course of infection, the bacteria invade and colonize tissues of the upper respiratory tract, proliferate and produce exotoxin that inhibits protein synthesis and causes local lesions and systemic degenerative changes in the heart, muscles, peripheral nerves, liver and other vital organs.
Subject: NC_009664:1569335 Kineococcus radiotolerans SRS30216, complete genome
Lineage: Kineococcus radiotolerans; Kineococcus; Kineosporiaceae; Actinomycetales; Actinobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: This organism is a coccoid bacterium originally isolated from a high-level radioactive waste cell at the Savannah River Site in Aiken, South Carolina, USA, in 2002. Radiation-resistant bacterium. Similarly to Deinococcus radiodurans, K. radiotolerans exhibits a high degree of resistance to ionizing gamma-radiation. Cells are also highly resistant to dessication. Kineococcus-like 16S rRNA gene sequences have been reported from the Mojave desert and other arid environments where these bacteria seem to be ubiquitous. Because of its high resistance to ionizing radiation and desiccation, K. radiotolerans has potential use in applications involving in situ biodegradation of problematic organic contaminants from highly radioactive environments. Moreover, comparative functional genomic characterization of this species and other known radiotolerant bacteria such as Deinococcus radiodurans and Rubrobacter xylanophilus will shed light onto the strategies these bacteria use for survival in high radiation environments, as well as the evolutionary origins of radioresistance and their highly efficient DNA repair machinery. This organism produces an orange carotenoid-like pigment. Cell growth occurs between 11-41 degresss C, pH 5-9, and in the presence of <5% NaCl and <20% glucose. Carbohydrates and alcohols are primary growth substrates.