Pre_GI: SWBIT SVG BLASTN

Query: NC_017168:3977767 Yersinia pestis A1122 chromosome, complete genome

Lineage: Yersinia pestis; Yersinia; Enterobacteriaceae; Enterobacteriales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria

General Information: Specific virulence factors are encoded within pathogenicity islands (PAIs) that are required for the invasive phenotype associated with Yersinia infections. One key virulence plasmid contained by the three human-specific pathogens is pCD1/pYv, which encodes a type III secretion system for the delivery of virulence proteins that contribute to internalization into the host cell. It is the causative agent of plague (bubonic and pulmonary) a devastating disease which has killed millions worldwide. The organism can be transmitted from rats to humans through the bite of an infected flea or from human-to-human through the air during widespread infection. Yersinia pestis is an extremely pathogenic organism that requires very few numbers in order to cause disease, and is often lethal if left untreated. The organism is enteroinvasive, and can survive and propagate in macrophages prior to spreading systemically throughout the host. Yersinia pestis also contains a PAI on the chromosome that is similar to the SPI-2 PAI from Salmonella that allows intracellular survival in the organism.

Subject: NC_010741:12542 Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum SS14, complete genome

Lineage: Treponema pallidum; Treponema; Spirochaetaceae; Spirochaetales; Spirochaetes; Bacteria

General Information: Treponema pallidum subsp. pallidum SS14 was isolated in 1977 from a patient with secondary syphilis. This strain is less susceptible than the Nichols strain for a number of antibiotics. This organisms is divided into subspecies each of which causes a specific disease. This organism is the causative agent of endemic and venereal syphilis. This sexual transmitted disease was first discovered in Europe at the end of the fifteenth century, however, the causative agent was not identified until 1905. At one time syphilis was the third most commonly reported communicable disease in the USA. Syphilis is characterized by multiple clinical stages and long periods of latent, asymptomatic infection. Although effective therapies have been available since the introduction of penicillin, syphilis remains a global health problem.