Query: NC_010556:691498 Exiguobacterium sibiricum 255-15, complete genome
Lineage: Exiguobacterium sibiricum; Exiguobacterium; Bacillales Family XII; Bacillales; Firmicutes; Bacteria
General Information: This organism was isolated from a 2-3 million-year permafrost core in Siberia, Russia and can survive and grow rapidly at low temperatures. Analysis of long-term survival of psychrophilic organisms such as this one may aid understanding of the potential growth of organisms in astrobiology. Exiguobacterium sibiricum is a psychrotolerant organism able to grow at temperatures that range from -6 to 40 degrees C. This organism is also able to survive repeated freeze/thaw cycles which may contribute to its ability to survive in cold environments.
Subject: NC_014802:27857 Campylobacter jejuni subsp. jejuni ICDCCJ07001 chromosome, complete
Lineage: Campylobacter jejuni; Campylobacter; Campylobacteraceae; Campylobacterales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Gram-negative, microaerophilic, flagellate, spiral bacterium, Campylobacter species are the leading cause of food-borne gastroenteritis in developed countries. Infection with C. jejuni is the most frequent antecedent to a form of neuromuscular paralysis known as Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS). Strain ICDCCJ07001 was isolated following a GBS outbreak in Shuangyang, a town in northern China in 2007, from a severely affected 15 year-old girl GBS patient who had been on a ventilator for 180 days. Her clinical symptoms were motor axonal neuropathy. This organism is the leading cause of bacterial food poisoning (campylobacteriosis) in the world, and is more prevalent than Salmonella enteritis (salmonellosis). Found throughout nature, it can colonize the intestines of both mammals and birds, and transmission to humans occurs via contaminated food products. This organism can invade the epithelial layer by first attaching to epithelial cells, then penetrating through them. Systemic infections can also occur causing more severe illnesses.