Query: NC_014909:619407 Candidatus Blochmannia vafer str. BVAF chromosome, complete genome
Lineage: Blochmannia vafer; Blochmannia; Enterobacteriaceae; Enterobacteriales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Candidatus Blochmannia is an obligate bacterial associate of Camponotus and related ant genera. Blochmannia vafer was isolated from Camponotus vafer workers and larvae collected from a single colony in the Coronado National Forest near Portal, Arizona, USA. Blochmannia is located within bacteriocytes, where the bacterial cells float freely in the host cytoplasm, and within oocytes of queens.
Subject: NC_003305:1297785 Agrobacterium tumefaciens str. C58 chromosome linear, complete
Lineage: Agrobacterium tumefaciens; Agrobacterium; Rhizobiaceae; Rhizobiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Gram-negative soil bacterium. This is the most widely studied species in the genus. Strains of Agrobacterium are classified in three biovars based on their utilisation of different carbohydrates and other biochemical tests. The differences between biovars are determined by genes on the single circle of chromosomal DNA. Biovar differences are not particularly relevant to the pathogenicity of A. tumefaciens, except in one respect: biovar 3 is found worldwide as the pathogen of gravevines. This species causes crown gall disease of a wide range of dicotyledonous (broad-leaved) plants, especially members of the rose family such as apple, pear, peach, cherry, almond, raspberry and roses. Because of the way that it infects other organisms, this bacterium has been used as a tool in plant breeding. Any desired genes, such as insecticidal toxin genes or herbicide-resistance genes, can be engineered into the bacterial DNA, and then inserted into the plant genome. This process shortens the conventional plant breeding process, and allows entirely new (non-plant) genes to be engineered into crops.