Query: NC_002927:383760 Bordetella bronchiseptica RB50, complete genome
Lineage: Bordetella bronchiseptica; Bordetella; Alcaligenaceae; Burkholderiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: This strain was isolated from a rabbit. Causes a respiratory illness in animals. This group of organisms is capable of invading the respiratory tract of animals and causing severe diseases. They express a number of virulence factors in order to do this including filamentous hemagglutinins for attachment, cytotoxins, and proteins that form a type III secretion system for transport of effector molecules into host cells. Bordetella bronchiseptica, which is one of the few Bordetella that is capable of persisting in the environment, is rarely found in humans and is often associated with animals. This organism cause respiratory disease most commonly in pigs, rabbits and dogs.
Subject: NC_003997:5200805 Bacillus anthracis str. Ames, complete genome
Lineage: Bacillus anthracis; Bacillus; Bacillaceae; Bacillales; Firmicutes; Bacteria
General Information: This well studied laboratory strain (Porton isolate) is not virulent due to the loss of the two plasmids, pXO1 and pXO2. Under starvation conditions this group of bacteria initiate a pathway that leads to endospore formation, a process that is thoroughly studied and is a model system for prokaryotic development and differentiation. Spores are highly resistant to heat, cold, dessication, radiation, and disinfectants, and enable the organism to persist in otherwise inhospitable environments. Under more inviting conditions the spores germinate to produce vegetative cells. This organism was the first to be shown to cause disease by Dr. Louis Pasteur (the organism, isolated from sick animals, was grown in the laboratory and then used to infect healthy animals and make them sick). This organism was also the first for which an attenuated strain was developed as a vaccine. Herbivorous animals become infected with the organism when they ingest spores from the soil whereas humans become infected when they come into contact with a contaminated animal. PA/LF and PA/EF complexes are internalized by host cells where the LF (metalloprotease) and EF (calmodulin-dependent adenylate cyclase) components act. At high levels LF induces cell death and release of the bacterium while EF increases host susceptibility to infection and promotes fluid accumulation in the cells.