Query: NC_010263:13826 Rickettsia rickettsii str. Iowa, complete genome Lineage: Rickettsia rickettsii; Rickettsia; Rickettsiaceae; Rickettsiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria General Information: Causative agent for Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. This organism was first identified by Dr. Howard Rickets as the causative agent of Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever, which was originally named for its geographic distribution at the time, it is now known to be widespread throughout the North American continent. This bacterium is an obligate intracellular pathogen that infects primarily the vascular endothelium, and occasionally smooth muscle tissue. It is passed to the human host from a tick bite, and the tick acts as both a natural reservoir and a vector for disease transmission. Once the organism is endocytosed by the host cell, it quickly escapes the phagozome, and replicates intracellularly, causing cell death and tissue damage. The disease is characterized by a spotted rash and has a high mortality rate if left untreated.
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General Information: First isolated from the Potomac river downstream of Washington, DC, USA in 1987. This organism actively moves towards metal attractants such as iron and manganese oxides, which are insoluble, and produces type IV pili for attachment to the insoluble substrates. Common metal-reducing bacterium. This organism, similar to what is observed in Geobacteria sulfurreducens, couples the oxidation of organic molecules to the reduction of iron by using insoluble Fe (III) as an electron acceptor under anaerobic conditions. This bacterium plays an imporant part of the nutrient cycling in aquatic environments. The cell can also use uranium and plutonium, therefore, this organism and may be important for the bioremediation of contaminated waste sites.