Rickettsia prowazekii

Taxobox
color = lightgrey
name = "Rickettsia prowazekii"
regnum = Bacteria
phylum = Proteobacteria
classis = Alpha Proteobacteria
ordo = Rickettsiales
familia = Rickettsiaceae
genus = "Rickettsia"
species = "R. prowazekii"
binomial = "Rickettsia prowazekii"
binomial_authority = da Rocha-Lima, 1916

"Rickettsia prowazekii" is a species of gram negative, rod shaped, aerobic bacteria that is the etiologic agent of epidemic typhus, transmitted in the feces of lice and fleas. "R. prowazekii" is often surrounded by a protein microcapsular layer and slime layer; the natural life cycle of the bacteria generally involves a vertebrate and an invertebrate host, usually an arthropod, typically a louse. A form of "R. prowazekii" that exists in the feces of arthropods remains stably infective for months.
Henrique da Rocha Lima , a Brazilian doctor discovered this bacteria, in 1916.Vaccines against "R. prowazekii" were developed in the 1940s, and were highly effective in reducing typhus deaths among U.S. soldiers during World War II. Immunity following recovery from infection with, or by immunization against, "R. prowazekii" is lifelong in most cases. However, "R. prowazekii" can establish a latent infection, which can reactivate after years or decades (referred to as Brill-Zinsser disease). "R. prowazekii" also appears to be the closest free-living relative of mitochondria, based on genome sequencing.

References

*PDFlink| [http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/Biodefense/Research/categorybandc.pdf NIAID Biodefense Research Agenda for Category B and C Priority Pathogens] |1.44 MiB National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. NIH Publication No. 03-5315. (January 2003).

External links

* [http://patric.vbi.vt.edu/genome/overview.php?genomeId=66 "Rickettsia prowazekii" str. Madrid E] (from [http://patric.vbi.vt.edu/ PATRIC] , the PathoSystems Resource Integration Center, a [http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/ NIAID] Bioinformatics Resource Center)