Query: NC_012472:5239944 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.
- Sequence; - BLASTP hit: hover for score (Low score = Light, High score = Dark); - hypothetical protein; - cds: hover for description
General Information: This strain is found in the cedar aphid, Cinara cedri. Aphid endosymbiont. Almost all aphids contain maternally transmitted bacteriocyte cells, which themselves contain bacteria called Buchnera. The aphids live on a restricted diet (plant sap), rich in carbohydrates, but poor in nitrogenous or other essential compounds. It is believed that the Buchnera provide the essential nutrients the host lacks. Besides a nutritional co-dependence, due to a co-existence of millions of years, Buchnera have lost the ability to produce cell surface components such as lipopolysaccharides. This makes for an obligate endosymbiont relationship between host and Buchnera. Buchnera are prokaryotic cells which belong to the gamma-Proteobacteria, closely related to the Enterobacteriaceae family. Phylogenetic studies using 16S rRNA indicate that the symbiotic relationship was established around 200-250 million years ago. Since Buchnera are closely related to Escherichia coli and Haemophilus influenzae, comparative genomic studies can shed light on the evolutionary mechanisms of intracellular endosymbiosis as well as the different underlying molecular basis between organisms with parasitic behavior and symbionts.