Query: NC_017044:954318 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.
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General Information: Bartonella henselae str. Houston-1 (ATCC 49882) was isolated from human blood in Houston Texas. Causative agent of cat scratch fever. This group of alpha proteobacteria are unique among pathogens in that they cause angiogenic lesions. This organism was identified as the causative agent of cat scratch fever, a disease found commonly in children or in immunocompromised adults. The proliferation of the vascular endothelium (bacillary angiomatosis) is characterisitic of Bartonella infection and results in multiplication of the bacterium's host cells. Infected macrophages are stimulated to release vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and interleukin 1 beta, both of which promote angiogenesis. Endothelial cells are also stimulated to grow and divide by direct contact with bacterial cells. In addition, programmed cell death (apoptosis) of endothelial cells is inhibited, combatting a common mechanism eukaryotic cells use to deal with bacterial infection. Other pathogenicity factors include pili and outer membrane adhesins for attachment to host cells.