Query: NC_009465:766893 Candidatus Vesicomyosocius okutanii HA, complete genome
Lineage: Calyptogena okutanii thioautotrophic gill symbiont; sulfur-oxidizing symbionts; ; sulfur-oxidizing symbionts; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: This strain was collected off Hatsushima island in Sagami Bay, Japan. Calyptogena okutanii (deep-sea clam) thioautotrophic gill symbiont. The bivalve marine species Calyptogena okutanii depends on sulfur-oxidizing symbiotic bacteria housed in its gill tissues for its sole nutritional support. The symbiont is transmitted vertically between generations via the clam's eggs. This anaerobic symbiosis oxidizes hydrogen sulfide as an energy source and fixes carbon dioxide into organic compounds.
Subject: NC_005810:2180303 Yersinia pestis biovar Microtus str. 91001, complete genome
Lineage: Yersinia pestis; Yersinia; Enterobacteriaceae; Enterobacteriales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Causative agent of plague. 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 consists of three biotypes or serovars, Antiqua, Mediavalis, and Orientalis, that are associated with three major pandemics throughout human history. pMT1 encodes a protein, murine toxin, that aids rat-to-human transmission by enhancing survival of the organism in the flea midgut. 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.