Query: NC_005061:594500 Candidatus Blochmannia floridanus, complete genome
Lineage: Blochmannia floridanus; Blochmannia; Enterobacteriaceae; Enterobacteriales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Ant endosymbiont. This organism is an endosymbiont that is associated with carpenter ants. It is related to other endosymbionts like Buchnera and Wigglesworthia. Within the ant host, the bacteria live within specialized cells called bacteriocytes in the midgut and ovaries.
Subject: NC_012633:276500 Rickettsia africae ESF-5, complete genome
Lineage: Rickettsia africae; Rickettsia; Rickettsiaceae; Rickettsiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: This organism was isolated from a cattle tick, Amblyomma variegatum, collected in Ethiopia. This organism, a member of the spotted fever group of the Rickettsiales, is found in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean. Rickettsia africae causes a flu-like illness, characterized by a mild fever and severe headache, without the skin rash common to other spotted fever group Rickettsia species. Members of this genus, like other Rickettsial organisms such as Neorickettsia and Anaplasma, are obligate intracellular pathogens. In both groups, the bacteria are transmitted via an insect, usually a tick, to a host organism where they target endothelial cells and sometimes macrophages. They attach via an adhesin, rickettsial outer membrane protein A, and are internalized where they persist as cytoplasmically free organisms.