Pre_GI: SWBIT SVG BLASTP

Query: NC_017297:33519 Clostridium botulinum F str. 230613 chromosome, complete genome

Lineage: Clostridium botulinum; Clostridium; Clostridiaceae; Clostridiales; Firmicutes; Bacteria

General Information: 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.

Subject: NC_010725:750911 Methylobacterium populi BJ001, complete genome

Lineage: Methylobacterium populi; Methylobacterium; Methylobacteriaceae; Rhizobiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria

General Information: This species was isolated from tissue cultures of Populus, the Poplar tree. Colonies are pink to red, and the red pigment is water insoluble. Species of the genus Methylobacterium are strictly aerobic, facultatively methylotrophic, Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacteria that are able to grow on one-carbon compounds (e.g. methanol or methylamine), as well as on a variety of C2, C3 and C4 substrates. Only the type species, Methylobacterium organophilum, has been shown to use methane as the sole source of carbon and energy. Members of the genus are distributed in a wide variety of natural and man-made environments, including soil, air, dust, fresh- and marine water and sediments, water supplies, bathrooms, air-conditioning systems and masonry, and some are opportunistic human pathogens.