Query: NC_020134:845164 Clostridium stercorarium subsp. stercorarium DSM 8532, complete Lineage: Clostridium stercorarium; Clostridium; unclassified Ruminococcaceae; Clostridiales; Firmicutes; Bacteria General Information: Lignocellulosic biomass has great potential as an abundant and renewable source of fermentable sugars through enzymic saccharification. Clostridium stercorarium is a catabolically versatile bacterium producing a wide range of hydrolases for degradation of biomass. Together with Clostridium thermocellum, Clostridium aldrichii and other cellulose degraders, it forms group I of the clostridia. It is moderately thermophilic, with an optimum growth temperature of 65 degrees C, and has repeatedly been isolated from self-heated compost. The two-component cellulase system of C. stercorarium has been investigated thoroughly. Due to its ability to utilize the various polysaccharides present in biomass it is especially suited for the fermentation of hemicellulose to organic solvents. Some isolates have been used in Japan in a single-step ethanol-fermenting pilot-process with lignocellulosic biomass as substrate.
- Sequence; - BLASTP hit: hover for score (Low score = Light, High score = Dark); - hypothetical protein; - cds: hover for description
General Information: Clostridium botulinum B str. Eklund 17B is a nonproteolytic botulism neurotoxin B strain. This strain was isolated from marine sediments taken off the coast of Washington, USA and was not associated with botulism. This genus comprises about 150 metabolically diverse species of anaerobes that are ubiquitous in virtually all anoxic habitats where organic compounds are present, including soils, aquatic sediments and the intestinal tracts of animals and humans. This shape is attributed to the presence of endospores that develop under conditions unfavorable for vegetative growth and distend single cells terminally or sub-terminally. Spores germinate under conditions favorable for vegetative growth, such as anaerobiosis and presence of organic substrates. It is believed that present day Mollicutes (Eubacteria) have evolved regressively (i.e., by genome reduction) from gram-positive clostridia-like ancestors with a low GC content in DNA. 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.