Query: NC_016948:678939 Mycobacterium intracellulare MOTT-64 chromosome, complete genome
Lineage: Mycobacterium intracellulare; Mycobacterium; Mycobacteriaceae; Actinomycetales; Actinobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Like other closely related Actinomycetales, such as Nocardia and Corynebacterium, Mycobacteria have unusually high genomic DNA GC content and are capable of producing mycolic acids as major components of their cell wall. Mycobacterium intracellulare is a member of the Mycobacterium avium complex (MAC). These organisms cause tuberculosis in birds, and pulmonary and disseminated infections in immunocompromized humans. Mycobacterium intracellulare is also an important contributor to MAC-associated pulmonary infections in immunocompetent patients. Infection results in a characteristic pulmonary disease which requires expensive drug therapy for successful treatment. Mycobacterium intracellulare can also be isolated from the environment and, like other environmental organisms, is able to form and survive in biofilms.
Subject: NC_012563:3580000 Clostridium botulinum A2 str. Kyoto, complete genome
Lineage: Clostridium botulinum; Clostridium; Clostridiaceae; Clostridiales; Firmicutes; Bacteria
General Information: This strain was isolated from a case of infant botulism in Kyoto, Japan in 1978. This organism produces one of the most potent and deadly neurotoxins known, a botulinum toxin that prevents the release of acetylcholine at the neuromuscular junction, thereby inhibiting muscle contraction and causing paralysis. In most cases the diseased person dies of asphyxiation as a result of paralysis of chest muscles involved in breathing. The spores are heat-resistant and can survive in inadequately heated, prepared, or processed foods. Spores germinate under favorable conditions (anaerobiosis and substrate-rich environment) and bacteria start propagating very rapidly, producing the toxin.Botulinum toxin, and C. botulinum cells, has been found in a wide variety of foods, including canned ones. Almost any food that has a high pH (above 4.6) can support growth of the bacterium. Honey is the most common vehicle for infection in infants. Food poisoning through C. botulinum is the most frequent type of infection caused by this bacterium. The wound botulism that occurs when C. botulinum infects an individual via an open wound is much rarer and is very similar to tetanus disease. There are several types of botulinum toxin known (type A through type F), all of them being neurotoxic polypeptides. The most common and widely distributed are strains and serovars of C. botulinum that produce type A toxin.