Pre_GI: SWBIT SVG BLASTP

Query: NC_010673:479552 Borrelia hermsii DAH, complete genome

Lineage: Borrelia hermsii; Borrelia; Spirochaetaceae; Spirochaetales; Spirochaetes; Bacteria

General Information: This strain was isolated from a case of relapsing fever in western Washington, USA. Borrelia hermsii is the causative agent of tick-borne relapsing fever in the western United States and Canada. Borrelia then multiplies rapidly, causing a generalized infection throughout the tick. While feeding, the tick passes the organism into a mammalian host through its infectious saliva. Relapsing fever is characterized by a period of chills, fever, headache, and malaise, an asymptomatic period, followed by another episode of symptoms. This cycle of relapsing is due to changes in the surface proteins of Borrelia, which allow it to avoid detection and removal by the host immune system. This antigenic variation is the result of homologous recombination of silent proteins into an expressed locus, causing partial or complete replacement of one serotype with another. These plasmids carry genes involved in antigenic variation and pathogenicity.

Subject: NC_004342:756942 Leptospira interrogans serovar Lai str. 56601 chromosome I,

Lineage: Leptospira interrogans; Leptospira; Leptospiraceae; Spirochaetales; Spirochaetes; Bacteria

General Information: Pathogenic strain. Causative agent of leptospirosis. This organism is the causative agent of leptospirosis, a tropical zoonosis transmitted by direct contact with the urine of infected animals. This motile and obligately aerobic organism grows optimally at 28-30 C. Many serovars are adapted for specific mammalian reservoir hosts, which harbor the organisms in their renal tubules and shed them in their urine. Because of the large spectrum of animal species that serve as reservoirs, leptospirosis is considered to be the world's most widespread zoonotic disease.