Query: NC_016788:2007721 Corynebacterium diphtheriae HC04 chromosome, complete genome
Lineage: Corynebacterium diphtheriae; Corynebacterium; Corynebacteriaceae; Actinomycetales; Actinobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: They may be found as members of the normal microflora of humans, where these bacteria find a suitable niche in virtually every anatomic site. This organism is the best known and most widely studied species of the genus. It is the causal agent of the disease diphtheria, a deadly infectious disease spreading from person to person by respiratory droplets from the throat through coughing and sneezing. In the course of infection, the bacteria invade and colonize tissues of the upper respiratory tract, proliferate and produce exotoxin that inhibits protein synthesis and causes local lesions and systemic degenerative changes in the heart, muscles, peripheral nerves, liver and other vital organs.
Subject: NC_012490:2660089 Rhodococcus erythropolis PR4, complete genome
Lineage: Rhodococcus erythropolis; Rhodococcus; Nocardiaceae; Actinomycetales; Actinobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Rhodococcus erythropolis PR4 (NBRC 100887) was isolated from Pacific Ocean seawater. It has the enzymes necessary for the degradation of different alkanes, such as pristane. PR4 shows tolerance to hydrocarbons and it is capable of producing several compounds with medical, industrial, and nutritional applications such as beta-carotenes (i.e. astaxanthin) and fatty acid-containing extracellular polysaccharides (i.e. mucoidan). Rhodococcus species are soil bacteria with remarkable metabolic versatility leading to several possible applications in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries and for industrial bioremediation. This species has shown potential in producing different valuable compounds. As examples, some Rhodococcus erythropolis strains posses a nitrile hydratase, an enzyme used for the industrial production of acrylamide and nicotinamide, while other strains are capable of transforming indene to 1,2-indandiol, a key precursor of the AIDS drug Crixivan.