Query: NC_014974:404015 Thermus scotoductus SA-01 chromosome, complete genome
Lineage: Thermus scotoductus; Thermus; Thermaceae; Thermales; Deinococcus-Thermus; Bacteria
General Information: This is a thermophilic, facultatively mixotrophic sulfur-oxidizing bacterium. Thermus scotoductus SA-01 was isolated from fissure water in a South African gold mine. This organism is a thermophilic bacterium which was isolated from fissure water in the Witwatersrand Supergroup at a depth of 3.2 km below surface in a South African gold mine. It is a 2.9-billion-year-old formation of low permeability sandstone and shale with minor volcanic units and conglomerates. The ambient temperature of the rock is approximately 60°C. Samples were collected from a freshly mined rock surface and from a water-producing borehole that penetrated 121 m horizontally into the formation at a depth of 3,198 m. T. scotoductus SA-01 is a facultative anaerobe capable of coupling the oxidation of organic substrates to reduction of a wide range of electron acceptors, including nitrate, Fe(III), Mn(IV) or S(0) as terminal electron acceptors.
Subject: NC_005956:1572500 Bartonella henselae str. Houston-1, complete genome
Lineage: Bartonella henselae; Bartonella; Bartonellaceae; Rhizobiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Bartonella henselae str. Houston-1 (ATCC 49882) was isolated from human blood in Houston Texas. Causative agent of cat scratch fever. This group of alpha proteobacteria are unique among pathogens in that they cause angiogenic lesions. This organism was identified as the causative agent of cat scratch fever, a disease found commonly in children or in immunocompromised adults. The proliferation of the vascular endothelium (bacillary angiomatosis) is characterisitic of Bartonella infection and results in multiplication of the bacterium's host cells. Infected macrophages are stimulated to release vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin 1 beta, both of which promote angiogenesis. Endothelial cells are also stimulated to grow and divide by direct contact with bacterial cells. In addition, programmed cell death (apoptosis) of endothelial cells is inhibited, combatting a common mechanism eukaryotic cells use to deal with bacterial infection. Other pathogenicity factors include pili and outer membrane adhesins for attachment to host cells.