Pre_GI: SWBIT SVG BLASTP

Query: NC_004557:81362 Clostridium tetani E88, complete genome

Lineage: Clostridium tetani; Clostridium; Clostridiaceae; Clostridiales; Firmicutes; Bacteria

General Information: This strain is a virulent nonsporulating variant of strain Massachusetts used in vaccine production. Causes tetanus. This genus comprises about 150 metabolically diverse species of anaerobes that are ubiquitous in virtually all anoxic habitats where organic compounds are present, including soils, aquatic sediments and the intestinal tracts of animals and humans. This shape is attributed to the presence of endospores that develop under conditions unfavorable for vegetative growth and distend single cells terminally or sub-terminally. Spores germinate under conditions favorable for vegetative growth, such as anaerobiosis and presence of organic substrates. It is believed that present day Mollicutes (Eubacteria) have evolved regressively (i.e., by genome reduction) from gram-positive clostridia-like ancestors with a low GC content in DNA. Known opportunistic toxin-producing pathogens in animals and humans. Some species are capable of producing organic solvents (acetone, ethanol, etc,), molecular hydrogen and other useful compounds. This organism causes tetanus (lockjaw) in humans. At the tissue level, the bacterium then releases an exotoxin called tetanospasmin that causes certain nervous system irregularities by means of retrograde tramsmission through neurons to the brain. If nervous impulses cannot be checked by normal inhibitory mechanisms, it produces the generalized muscular spasms characteristic of tetanus.

Subject: NC_003919:4568892 Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri str. 306, complete genome

Lineage: Xanthomonas citri; Xanthomonas; Xanthomonadaceae; Xanthomonadales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria

General Information: This organism is the causal agent of citrus canker, a bacterial infection originating from southeast Asia which now occurs worldwide. Primarily a pathogen of plants in the Citrus genus, the disease is sometimes also found in other members of the Rutaceae. The bacterium survives in leaf, shoot and fruit lesions that develop during the spring, and which also cause secondary infections. During warm, wet weather in spring and early summer, the bacterium oozes out of overwintering lesions and infects new growth via the stomal pores or wounds. The bacterium may also survive for various periods of time in the soil or associated with other hosts.