Query: NC_014029:331919 Yersinia pestis Z176003 chromosome, complete genome Lineage: Yersinia pestis; Yersinia; Enterobacteriaceae; Enterobacteriales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria General Information: It was isolated from a dead marmot in Tibet Autonomous Region, China. Gram-negative straight rods, sometimes approaching a spherical shape. Y.pestis is always nonmotile. It is the causative agent of plague which is primarily a disease of wild rodents. Y.pestis is transmitted among wild rodents by fleas, in which the bacteria multiply and block the esophagus and the pharynx. The fleas regurgitate the bacteria when they take their next blood meal. Bacteria are transmitted subcutaneously to humans by the bite of infected fleas, but also by air, especially during pandemics of disease. Infective flea bites produce the typical bubonic form of plague in humans.
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General Information: This strain was isolated on Trinidad and Tobago. It is a symbiont of the nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora. Bioluminescent bacterium. 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. Enzymes are then released by the bacteria that result in rapid degradation of the insect body, allowing both bacteria and nematode to feed and reproduce. During this period Photorhabdus luminescens releases bacteriocidal products, including antibiotics and bacteriocins, that prevent infection of the larva by competitive microbes. The result is promotion of Photorhabdus luminescens-nematode interactions that result in continuation of the symbiotic relationship. In order to engage in a symbiotic relationship with the nematode and a pathogenic one with the insect larva, the bacterium encodes specific factors that encourage both. These include a large number of genes that code for secreted toxins and enzymes, as well as genes that encode products for the production of antibiotics and bacteriocins. Secretion of these products occurs by an array of systems including type I, type II, and type III secretion systems. The type III system is closely related to the Yersinia plasmid-encoded type III system. Genes that promote symbiotic relationships are also encoded on genomic islands on the chromosome including some that affect nematode development. Virulence genes appear to be active during exponential growth. Symbiotic genes appear to function during stationary phase (post-exponential) growth. The switch from one state to another is controlled. Photorhabdus luminescens is capable of giving off light, a complex process that requires the products of the lux operon.