Query: NC_015687:3252233 Clostridium acetobutylicum DSM 1731 chromosome, complete genome
Lineage: Clostridium acetobutylicum; Clostridium; Clostridiaceae; Clostridiales; Firmicutes; Bacteria
General Information: This organism is a benign saccharolytic and proteolytic soil bacterium capable of producing a number of organic solvents (solventogenic bacterium) through fermentation of various organic compounds. The first strains of C. acetobutyricum were isolated by Chaim Weizman during the World War I and used to develop industrial starch-based acetone, butanol and ethanol fermentation processes.
Subject: NC_015662:385461 Buchnera aphidicola (Cinara tujafilina) chromosome, complete
Lineage: Buchnera aphidicola; Buchnera; Enterobacteriaceae; Enterobacteriales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: 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.