Query: NC_016790:1758000 Corynebacterium diphtheriae VA01 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_008146:4936262 Mycobacterium sp. MCS, complete genome
Lineage: Mycobacterium; Mycobacterium; Mycobacteriaceae; Actinomycetales; Actinobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Mycobacterium MCS was isolated from soil in a wood preservative-contaminated land-treatment unit where remediation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) was occurring. This isolate mineralizes small- and large-ring PAHs, in contrast to other PAH-degrading microbes. Bioremediation of PAHs offers an attractive solution to pollution clean-up because it can occur on site and at relative little cost compared to alternatives. This isolate belongs to a fast-growing group of the mycobacterium genus that is defined as Gram-positive, acid-fast, pleomorphic, non-motile rods. Bioremediation of soils contaminated with wood preservatives containing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) is desired because of their toxic, mutagenic, and carcinogenic properties. Creosote wood preservative–contaminated soils at the Champion International Superfund Site in Libby, Montana currently undergo bioremediation in a prepared-bed land treatment unit (LTU) process.