Query: NC_020244:3358399 Bacillus subtilis XF-1, complete genome
Lineage: Bacillus subtilis; Bacillus; Bacillaceae; Bacillales; Firmicutes; Bacteria
General Information: This organism was one of the first bacteria studied, and was named Vibrio subtilis in 1835 and renamed Bacillus subtilis in 1872. It is one of the most well characterized bacterial organisms, and is a model system for cell differentiation and development. This soil bacterium can divide asymmetrically, producing an endospore that is resistant to environmental factors such as heat, acid, and salt, and which can persist in the environment for long periods of time. The endospore is formed at times of nutritional stress, allowing the organism to persist in the environment until conditions become favorable. Prior to the decision to produce the spore the bacterium might become motile, through the production of flagella, and also take up DNA from the environment through the competence system. The sporulation process is complex and involves the coordinated regulation of hundreds of genes in the genome. This initial step results in the coordinated asymmetric cellular division and endospore formation through multiple stages that produces a single spore from the mother cell.
Subject: NC_005363:2172444 Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus HD100, complete genome
Lineage: Bdellovibrio bacteriovorus; Bdellovibrio; Bdellovibrionaceae; Bdellovibrionales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: This organism is unique in that it is a bacteriolytic microbe that preys on other gram negative bacteria. It is found throughout soil, sewage, and aquatic environments, and is often associated with biofilms. This organism has a biphasic lifestyle which consists of a free living and motile phase, and an attack phase where the bacterium attaches to a host cell, burrows into the periplasm, and begins to degrade the host from the inside out. The organism sheds its flagellum once it makes irreversible contact with the host, and when it is inside, begins to form a bdelloplast, resulting in degradation of the host cell inner membrane and alteration of its peptidoglycan layer, resulting in a spherical cell. The Bdellovibrio cell elongates until it forms a long coiled structure which then divides, forming many flagellated progeny which continue the degradation of the host cell to propagate the life cycle. The genome encodes a large number of degradative and lytic enzymes which are used to degrade the host organism. The organism has numerous deficiencies in its amino acid biosynthetic pathways, suggesting it utilizes prey metabolites for protein synthesis.