Query: NC_016930:165376 Rickettsia philipii str. 364D chromosome, complete genome
Lineage: Rickettsia philipii; Rickettsia; Rickettsiaceae; Rickettsiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Rickettsiae are obligate intracellular Gram-negative bacteria mostly found in arthropods, some of which cause mild to severe diseases in humans. Spotted fever group rickettsiae (SFGR) cause disease in humans. R .philippi strain 364D, an SFGR, was isolated in 1966 from Dermacentor occidentalis ticks collected in Ventura county, California, and since then 364D has been detected in up to 11% of D. occidentalis from 8 California counties. It has now been recognized as causing eschar-associated illness.
Subject: NC_013418:459650 Blattabacterium sp. (Periplaneta americana) str. BPLAN, complete
Lineage: Blattabacterium; Blattabacterium; Blattabacteriaceae; Flavobacteriales; Bacteroidetes; Bacteria
General Information: This organism is the endosymbiont of the American cockroach, Periplaneta americana. It is a Gram-negative maternally inherited bacteria which lives in specialized cells in the host's abdominal fat body. Phylogenetic analyses for the Blattabacterium-cockroach symbiosis supports the hypothesis of co-evolution between symbionts and hosts dating back to more than 140 million years ago. Cockroaches are omnivorous insects, often subsisting on a nitrogen-poor diet, and Blattabacterium have been hypothesized to participate in uric acid degradation, nitrogen assimilation, and nutrient provisioning. Genome sequencing and metabolic reconstruction shows that Blattabacterium can recycle nitrogen from urea and ammonia, which are uric acid degradation products, into glutamate, using urease and glutamate dehydrogenase, and thus would be able to provide its host with some essential amino acids, vitamins and cofactors. The bacterium relies on asparagine and glutamine supplied by the host; it may be able to make proline from arginine via the urea cycle.