NC_007797:441782 Anaplasma phagocytophilum HZ, complete genome
Host Lineage: Anaplasma phagocytophilum; Anaplasma; Anaplasmataceae; Rickettsiales; Proteobacteria; Bacteria
General Information: Isolated from a patient in New York, USA, in 1995. This organism is a tick-borne (Ixodesspp.) obligate intracellular pathogen that infects humans and causes human granulocytic anaplasmosis as well as infecting several other types of animals. This organism produces a number of pathogenic factors that aid virulence. These include specific adhesins for neutrophils, virulence factors that inhibit both phagosome-lysozome fusion and production of reactive oxygen species that would normally kill the bacterium. The bacterium also inhibits programmed cell death of the neutrophil (apoptosis) and induces expression of interleukin-8, which causes neutrophil chemotaxis, thereby increasing the spread of the bacterium throughout the host organism.