Query: NC_010544:850502 Candidatus Phytoplasma australiense, complete genome Lineage: Phytoplasma australiense; Phytoplasma; Acholeplasmataceae; Acholeplasmatales; Tenericutes; Bacteria General Information: Phytoplasmas inhabit phloem (food-conducting vascular tissue) sieve elements of plants where they cause a variety of diseases. Transmission between plants is via insects that feed on the phloem. Candidatus Phytoplasma australiense was identified in diseased Chardonnay grapevines from South Australia. Symptoms include a yellowing of the leaves and reduced leaf size, which leads to reduced plant size and lower yields.
- Sequence; - BLASTP hit: hover for score (Low score = Light, High score = Dark); - hypothetical protein; - cds: hover for description
General Information: 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. Rickettsia typhi causes murine typhus and is an obligate intracellular pathogen that infects both the flea vector and hosts such as human, rat, and mouse. In the flea vector, the bacterium penetrates the gut epithelial barrier and is found in the feces which become infective.