Query: NC_007948:4176579 Polaromonas sp. JS666, complete genome
Lineage: Polaromonas; Polaromonas; Comamonadaceae; Burkholderiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: This strain was isolated from sediment contaminated with cis-dichloroethane (cDCE), a common pollutant resulting from widespread manufacture and use of industrial solvents. This bacterium is the only known organism capable of using cDCE as a sole carbon and energy source. The ability of this strain to convert ethene to epoxyethane suggests that the first step in the cDCE biodegradation pathway is the oxidation of cDCE to an epoxide compound. Bacteria that are able to grow on cDCE are rare, and have only been found in very few highly selective artificial environments. The discovery of this bacteria may provide a low cost, self-sustaining bioremediation method in areas where cDCE is a problem contaminant.
Subject: NC_002929:52500 Bordetella pertussis Tohama I, complete genome
Lineage: Bordetella pertussis; Bordetella; Alcaligenaceae; Burkholderiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: This strain was originally isolated from a patient with whooping cough and has been studied extensively for over 40 years. Causative agent of whooping cough. 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 hemagglutins for attachment, cytotoxins, and proteins that form a type III secretion system for transport of effector molecules into host cells. This organism, which is unable to persist in the environment, is a strict human pathogen that causes whooping cough. Once a common cause of death in children the development of a vaccine has greatly decreased the number of deaths due to Bordetella pertussis. However, this organism infects and estimated 39 million people and kills hundreds of thousands of people each year.