Pre_GI: SWBIT SVG BLASTP

Query: NC_009495:482500 Clostridium botulinum A str. ATCC 3502 chromosome, complete genome

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

General Information: This strain is a well-studied Hall strain that produces type A toxin. Produces botulinum, one of the most potent toxins known. 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. Some species are capable of producing organic solvents (acetone, ethanol, etc,), molecular hydrogen and other useful compounds. This organism produces one of the most potent and deadly neurotoxins known, a botulinum toxin that prevents the release of acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction, thereby inhibiting muscle contraction and causing paralysis. In most cases the diseased person dies of asphyxiation as a result of paralysis of chest muscles involved in breathing. The spores are heat-resistant and can survive in inadequately heated, prepared, or processed foods. Spores germinate under favorable conditions (anaerobiosis and substrate-rich environment) and bacteria start propagating very rapidly, producing the toxin. Botulinum toxin, and C. botulinum cells, has been found in a wide variety of foods, including canned ones. Almost any food that has a high pH (above 4.6) can support growth of the bacterium.

Subject: NC_008525:1202852 Pediococcus pentosaceus ATCC 25745, complete genome

Lineage: Pediococcus pentosaceus; Pediococcus; Lactobacillaceae; Lactobacillales; Firmicutes; Bacteria

General Information: Use in fermentation of food products. A distinctive characteristic of pediococci is their ability to form tetrads via cell division in two perpendicular directions in a single plane. Like other lactic acid bacteria, species of Pediococcus are acid tolerant, cannot synthesize porphyrins, and possess a strictly fermentative (homofermentative) facultatively anaerobic metabolism with lactic acid as the major metabolic end product. They also occur in such food products as cured meat, raw sausages, and marinated fish, and are are used for biotechnological processing and preservation of foods. This bacterium can be isolated from a variety of plant materials and bacterial-ripened cheeses. This organism is used as an acid producing starter culture in the fermentation of some sausages, cucumbers, green beans, soy milk, and silage. Some strains have been reported to contain several (3-5) resident plasmids that render the bacterium capable of fermenting some sugars (raffinose, melibiose, and sucrose), as well as producing bacteriocins.