Pre_GI: SWBIT SVG BLASTP

Query: NC_009727:1822877 Coxiella burnetii Dugway 7E9-12, complete genome

Lineage: Coxiella burnetii; Coxiella; Coxiellaceae; Legionellales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria

General Information: Coxiella burnetii Dugway 5J108-111 was isolated from rodents in Utah, USA. This organism is widely distributed in nature and can cause infections in reptiles, birds, and mammals. It causes Q fever, or 'query' fever, an atypical pneumonia first associated with abattoir workers in Australia. Transmission may be through insect vectors such as ticks that have bitten an infected wild or domesticated animal, or through an aerosol produced by domesticated animals such as sheep or cattle. The presence of a plasmid is believed to be associated with virulence and pathogenicity, however C. burnetii isolates containing plasmid QpDG are avirulent in guinea pigs and plasmidless isolates have been associated with endocarditis in humans. Coxiella burnetii has a developmental life cycle, and can grow vegetatively through binary fission, or asymmetrically and produce a spore-like cell. The spore-like cell may enable the organism to exist extracellularly for small amounts of time. This bacterium is an obligate intracellular pathogen. It is endocytosed by a host cell, a macrophage for example, and lives and replicates inside the phagolysozome, a unique property of this organism. The genome encodes proteins that have a higher than average pI, which may enable adaptation to the acidic environment of the phagolysozome. The chromosome also contains genes for a number of detoxification and stress response proteins such as dismutases that allow growth in the oxidative environment. The type IV system is similar to the one found in Legionella, which may be important for intracellular survival. This organism produces numerous ankyrin-repeat proteins that may be involved in interactions with the host cell. The genome has 83 pseudogenes, which may be a result of the typical genome-wide degradation observed with other intracellular organisms and also has a group I intron in the 23S ribosomal RNA gene.

Subject: NC_002516:4747154 Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1, complete genome

Lineage: Pseudomonas aeruginosa; Pseudomonas; Pseudomonadaceae; Pseudomonadales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria

General Information: Bacteria belonging to the Pseudomonas group are common inhabitants of soil and water and can also be found on the surfaces of plants and animals. Pseudomonas bacteria are found in nature in a biofilm or in planktonic form. Pseudomonas bacteria are renowned for their metabolic versatility as they can grow under a variety of growth conditions and do not need any organic growth factors. This organism is an opportunistic human pathogen. While it rarely infects healthy individuals, immunocompromised patients, like burn victims, AIDS-, cancer- or cystic fibrosis-patients are at increased risk for infection with this environmentally versatile bacteria. It is an important soil bacterium with a complex metabolism capable of degrading polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and producing interesting, biologically active secondary metabolites including quinolones, rhamnolipids, lectins, hydrogen cyanide, and phenazines. Production of these products is likely controlled by complex regulatory networks making Pseudomonas aeruginosa adaptable both to free-living and pathogenic lifestyles. The bacterium is naturally resistant to many antibiotics and disinfectants, which makes it a difficult pathogen to treat.