Query: NC_010424:1563033 Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator MP104C, complete genome
Lineage: Desulforudis audaxviator; Desulforudis; Peptococcaceae; Clostridiales; Firmicutes; Bacteria
General Information: Its genome indicates a motile, sporulating, sulfate-reducing, chemoautotrophic thermophile that can fix its own nitrogen and carbon by using machinery shared with archaea. Candidatus Desulforudis audaxviator is a gram positive sulfate reducing bacteria identified in fracture water from a borehole at a depth of 2.8 km in a South African gold mine. Water from these boreholes is very old (low-biodiversity fracture water), suggesting that these bacteria have been isolated from the Earth's surface for as much as several million years.
Subject: NC_003103:919000 Rickettsia conorii str. Malish 7, complete genome
Lineage: Rickettsia conorii; Rickettsia; Rickettsiaceae; Rickettsiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: This strain was isolated from a human in South Africa. Causative agent for Rocky Mountain spotted fever. This genus, like other Rickettsial organisms such as Neorickettsia and Anaplasma, is composed of obligate intracellular pathogens. The latter is composed of two organisms, Rickettsia prowazekii and Rickettsia typhi. The bacteria are transmitted via an insect, usually a tick, to a host organism, in this case humans, where they target endothelial cells and sometimes macrophages. They attach via an adhesin, rickettsial outer membrane protein A, and are internalized where they persist as cytoplasmically free organisms. Transovarial transmission (from mother to offspring) occurs in the invertebrate host. This organism causes Rocky Mountain spotted fever which can cause severe damage to the endothelial layer of major organs, including the lungs, heart, kidneys, and skeletal muscle which can result in death.