Query: NC_012472:1339500 Bacillus cereus 03BB102, complete genome
Lineage: Bacillus cereus; Bacillus; Bacillaceae; Bacillales; Firmicutes; Bacteria
General Information: Bacillus cereus 03BB102 was cultured from the blood of a 39 year old San Antonio, Texas welder who died as a result of a severe pneumonia thought to be caused by this microbe. Unlike B. anthracis, the isolate is hemolytic, motile and resistant to gamma phage. However, it is positive for a DFA-based cell wall test for B. anthracis, and it has all or most of the pXO1 pathogenicity island sequences including the sequences for pag, cya and lef. This organism is a soil-dwelling opportunistic pathogen that causes food poisoning in infected individuals. The rapid onset is characterized by nausea and vomiting while the late onset is characterized by diarrhea and abdominal pain. The emetic disease is caused by a small stable dodecadepsipeptide cerulide whereas the diarrheal disease is caused by a heat labile enterotoxin. Some strains produce a potent cytotoxin that forms a pore in the membrane of eukaryotic cells and causes necrotic enteritis (death of intestinal epithelial cells) while the unique tripartite membrane lytic toxin hemolysin BL contributes to the diarrheal disease and destructive infections of the eye.
Subject: NC_000917:1778173 Archaeoglobus fulgidus DSM 4304, complete genome
Lineage: Archaeoglobus fulgidus; Archaeoglobus; Archaeoglobaceae; Archaeoglobales; Euryarchaeota; Archaea
General Information: This is the type strain (DSM 4304) of the Archaeoglobales, and was isolated from a geothermally heated sea floor at Vulcano Island, Italy. Doubling time is four hours under optimal conditions. The organism is an autotrophic or organotrophic sulfate/sulfite respirer. An additional distinguishing characteristic is blue-green fluorescence at 420 nm. This bacterium is the first sulfur-metabolizing organism to have its genome sequence determined. Growth by sulfate reduction is restricted to relatively few groups of prokaryotes; all but one of these are Eubacteria, the exception being the archaeal sulfate reducers in the Archaeoglobales. These organisms are unique in that they are only distantly related to other bacterial sulfate reducers, and because they can grow at extremely high temperatures. The known Archaeoglobales are strict anaerobes, most of which are hyperthermophilic marine sulfate reducers found in hydrothermal environments. High-temperature sulfate reduction by Archaeoglobus species contributes to deep subsurface oil-well 'souring' by iron sulfide, which causes corrosion of iron and steel in oil-and gas-processing systems.