Pre_GI: SWBIT SVG BLASTP

Query: NC_010673:205500 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_006155:4062000 Yersinia pseudotuberculosis IP 32953, complete genome

Lineage: Yersinia pseudotuberculosis; Yersinia; Enterobacteriaceae; Enterobacteriales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria

General Information: This strain is a fully virulent serotype I strain isolated from a human patient. Environmental bacterium that causes gastrointestinal disease. Specific virulence factors are encoded within pathogenicity islands (PAIs) that are required for the invasive phenotype associated with Yersinia infections. One key virulence plasmid contained by the three human-specific pathogens is pCD1/pYv, which encodes a type III secretion system for the delivery of virulence proteins that contribute to internalization into the host cell. This organism was first isolated in 1883 by Malassez and Vignal and is termed pseudotuberculosis since it causes lesions in the lung that are similar to those observed during tuberculosis infection. It is ubiquitous in the environment and is a food and waterborne pathogen that affects animals as well as humans by causing gastroenteritis like Yersinia enterocolitica.