Query: NC_016801:394400 Corynebacterium diphtheriae C7 (beta) 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_020134:301500 Clostridium stercorarium subsp. stercorarium DSM 8532, complete
Lineage: Clostridium stercorarium; Clostridium; unclassified Ruminococcaceae; Clostridiales; Firmicutes; Bacteria
General Information: Lignocellulosic biomass has great potential as an abundant and renewable source of fermentable sugars through enzymic saccharification. Clostridium stercorarium is a catabolically versatile bacterium producing a wide range of hydrolases for degradation of biomass. Together with Clostridium thermocellum, Clostridium aldrichii and other cellulose degraders, it forms group I of the clostridia. It is moderately thermophilic, with an optimum growth temperature of 65 degrees C, and has repeatedly been isolated from self-heated compost. The two-component cellulase system of C. stercorarium has been investigated thoroughly. Due to its ability to utilize the various polysaccharides present in biomass it is especially suited for the fermentation of hemicellulose to organic solvents. Some isolates have been used in Japan in a single-step ethanol-fermenting pilot-process with lignocellulosic biomass as substrate.