Query: NC_012962:3864000 Photorhabdus asymbiotica, complete genome Lineage: Photorhabdus asymbiotica; Photorhabdus; Enterobacteriaceae; Enterobacteriales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria General Information: This strain is a North American clinical isolate from human blood. Photorhabdus asymbiota, formerly Xenorhabdus luminescens, has been isolated from human wound and blood infections often in association with spider bites. This species can also be isolated from the entomopathogenic nematode Heterorhabditis indica. Photorhabdus asymbiota is divided into two subspecies, subsp. australis which contains the Australian clinical isolates and subsp. asymbiota which contains the North American isolates. Photorhabdus is currently subdivided into three species, luminescens, temperate and asymbiotica all of which have been isolated as symbionts of heterorhabditid nematodes. This organism is unusual in that it is symbiotic within one insect, and pathogenic in another, the only organism that is known to exhibit this dual phenotype.
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General Information: Clostridium botulinum A3 str. Loch Maree was isolated from duck liver paste during a botulism outbreak at a hotel in the Scottish highlands in 1922. This was the first and worst outbreak of botulism in the United Kingdom (UK). This organism produces one of the most potent and deadly neurotoxins known, a botulinum toxin that prevents the release of acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction, thereby inhibiting muscle contraction and causing paralysis. In most cases the diseased person dies of asphyxiation as a result of paralysis of chest muscles involved in breathing. The spores are heat-resistant and can survive in inadequately heated, prepared, or processed foods. Spores germinate under favorable conditions (anaerobiosis and substrate-rich environment) and bacteria start propagating very rapidly, producing the toxin.Botulinum toxin, and C. botulinum cells, has been found in a wide variety of foods, including canned ones. Almost any food that has a high pH (above 4.6) can support growth of the bacterium. Honey is the most common vehicle for infection in infants. Food poisoning through C. botulinum is the most frequent type of infection caused by this bacterium. The wound botulism that occurs when C. botulinum infects an individual via an open wound is much rarer and is very similar to tetanus disease. There are several types of botulinum toxin known (type A through type F), all of them being neurotoxic polypeptides. The most common and widely distributed are strains and serovars of C. botulinum that produce type A toxin.