Query: NC_009511:2921448 Sphingomonas wittichii RW1 chromosome, complete genome
Lineage: Sphingomonas wittichii; Sphingomonas; Sphingomonadaceae; Sphingomonadales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Sphingomonas wittichii was isolated from water from the Elbe River in Germany. This organism is able to grow using dibenzo-p-dioxin or dibenzofuran as a sole carbon source. These compounds are widespread environmental contaminants formed as by-products in the manufacture of pesticides and paper, and during the incineration of industrial waste. The enzymes involved in degradation of these substrates is contained, in part, on plasmids in Sphingomonas wittichii.
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.