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.
- Sequence; - BLASTP hit: hover for score (Low score = Light, High score = Dark); - hypothetical protein; - cds: hover for description
General Information: Desulfovibrio desulfuricans subsp. desulfuricans str. ATCC 27774 was isolated from the rumen of a sheep. D. desulfuricans reduces sulfate to sulfide found in soil, freshwater, saltwater and the intestinal tract of animals. This organism grows anaerobically and utilizes a wide variety of electron acceptors, including sulfate, sulfur, nitrate, and nitrite, as well as others. The nitrate reduction pathway is not expressed while sulfate is available. Alternatively, the sulfate reduction pathway is constitutively expressed when the cells are growing with nitrate reduction. A number of toxic metals are reduced, including uranium (VI), chromium (VI) and iron (III), making this organism of interest as bioremediator. Metal corrosion, a problem that is partly the result of the collective activity of this bacterium, results in billions of dollars in losses each year to the petroleum industry. This organism is responsible for the production of poisonous hydrogen sulfide gas in marine sediments and in terrestrial environments such as drilling sites for petroleum products.