Query: NC_017044:178395 Rickettsia parkeri str. Portsmouth chromosome, complete genome
Lineage: Rickettsia parkeri; Rickettsia; Rickettsiaceae; Rickettsiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Animal pathogen in Mammalia (intracellular obligate). Rickettsiae are obligate intracellular Gram-negative bacteria mostly found in arthropods, some of which cause mild to severe diseases in humans. Rickettsia parkeri, a member of the spotted fever group Rickettsia (SFGR), was first isolated from the Gulf Coast tick, Amblyomma maculatum, in 1937. In 2004, the first confirmed human infection with R. parkeri was reported in a 40-year-old man from the Tidewater area of coastal Virginia. The agent was isolated in cell culture from an eschar biopsy specimen and designated the Portsmouth strain; recently, the first recognized case of tick bite-associated human infection was described.
Subject: NC_006833:838330 Wolbachia endosymbiont strain TRS of Brugia malayi, complete
Lineage: Wolbachia endosymbiont of Brugia malayi; Wolbachia; Anaplasmataceae; Rickettsiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: A nematode endosymbiont. This group of bacteria are associated with a variety of invertebrate species, some as pathogens, some in a symbiotic relationship. Typically these organisms are transmitted maternally from mother to daughter transovarially (through the egg) although these bacteria can affect their hosts reproductive capabilities in order to enhance transmission. The net outcome is the increase of hosts carrying the bacteria in the next generation, thereby increasing transmission. This strain naturally infects Brugia malayi, a parasitic filarial nematode that causes lymphatic filariasis, one of the most devastating diseases in humans. The endosymbiont plays important roles in the biology of the nematide host. One of the known such effects are aberrant sex ratios in the host, parthenogenesis and feminization of genetic males, etc.