Query: NC_016050:15224 Rickettsia japonica YH, complete genome Lineage: Rickettsia japonica; Rickettsia; Rickettsiaceae; Rickettsiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria General Information: The causal agent of Oriental Spotted Fever. Human pathogen. Rickettsiae are obligate intracellular Gram-negative bacteria mostly found in arthropods, some of which cause mild to severe diseases in humans. Rickettsia japonica strain YH was isolated in 1985 from the blood of a patient with febrile exanthematous illness in Japan.
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General Information: This well studied laboratory strain (Porton isolate) is not virulent due to the loss of the two plasmids, pXO1 and pXO2. Under starvation conditions this group of bacteria initiate a pathway that leads to endospore formation, a process that is thoroughly studied and is a model system for prokaryotic development and differentiation. Spores are highly resistant to heat, cold, dessication, radiation, and disinfectants, and enable the organism to persist in otherwise inhospitable environments. Under more inviting conditions the spores germinate to produce vegetative cells. This organism was the first to be shown to cause disease by Dr. Louis Pasteur (the organism, isolated from sick animals, was grown in the laboratory and then used to infect healthy animals and make them sick). This organism was also the first for which an attenuated strain was developed as a vaccine. Herbivorous animals become infected with the organism when they ingest spores from the soil whereas humans become infected when they come into contact with a contaminated animal. PA/LF and PA/EF complexes are internalized by host cells where the LF (metalloprotease) and EF (calmodulin-dependent adenylate cyclase) components act. At high levels LF induces cell death and release of the bacterium while EF increases host susceptibility to infection and promotes fluid accumulation in the cells.