Query: NC_010382:1020516 Lysinibacillus sphaericus C3-41, complete genome Lineage: Lysinibacillus sphaericus; Lysinibacillus; Bacillaceae; Bacillales; Firmicutes; Bacteria General Information: Lysinibacillus sphaericus C3-41 was isolated from a mosquito breeding site in China. This organism is highly toxic to Culex species of mosquito. Lysinibacillus sphaericus, formerly Bacillus sphaericus, is a common environmental organism which produces an insecticidal toxin similar to that produced by Bacillus thuringiensis. Lysinibacillus sphaericus produces two proteins during sporulation which accumulate in parasporal crystalline inclusions. These proteins bind in the gastric cavitiy and midgut of the larvae causing disruption of feeding by the infected host and death.
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General Information: This strain carries the anthrax toxin plasmid pXO1 but not the capsule plasmid pXO2 and is therefore avirulent but toxigenic. It is the counterpart to the Pasteur strain that carries pXO2 but not pXO1. This strain is often used for vaccine development. Under starvation conditions this group of bacteria initiate a pathway that leads to endospore formation, a process that is thoroughly studied and is a model system for prokaryotic development and differentiation. Spores are highly resistant to heat, cold, dessication, radiation, and disinfectants, and enable the organism to persist in otherwise inhospitable environments. Under more inviting conditions the spores germinate to produce vegetative cells. This organism was the first to be shown to cause disease by Dr. Louis Pasteur (the organism, isolated from sick animals, was grown in the laboratory and then used to infect healthy animals and make them sick). This organism was also the first for which an attenuated strain was developed as a vaccine. Herbivorous animals become infected with the organism when they ingest spores from the soil whereas humans become infected when they come into contact with a contaminated animal. PA/LF and PA/EF complexes are internalized by host cells where the LF (metalloprotease) and EF (calmodulin-dependent adenylate cyclase) components act. At high levels LF induces cell death and release of the bacterium while EF increases host susceptibility to infection and promotes fluid accumulation in the cells.