Escherichia coli

Escherichia coli is a <a href="/facts/Gram-negative_bacteria/S1PbVtp4">gram-negative</a>, <a href="/facts/Facultative_anaerobic_organism/YS9tdh8N">facultative anaerobic</a>, <a href="/facts/Bacillus_(shape)/0rGR5vvU">rod-shaped</a>, <a href="/facts/Coliform_bacteria/droKqWrj">coliform bacterium</a> of the genus <a href="/facts/Escherichia/ehBXfPgT">Escherichia</a> that is commonly found in the lower <a href="/facts/Intestine/nK2zwqBS">intestine</a> of <a href="/facts/Warm-blooded/vw2TsPIP">warm-blooded</a> organisms. Most E. coli <a href="/facts/Strain_(biology)/xFv4QWjN">strains</a> are part of the normal <a href="/facts/Gut_microbiota/Xy1IWzSP">microbiota of the gut</a>, where they constitute about 0.1%, along with other <a href="/facts/Facultative_anaerobe/YS9tdh8N">facultative anaerobes</a>. These bacteria are mostly harmless or even beneficial to humans. For example, some strains of E. coli benefit their hosts by producing <a href="/facts/Vitamin_K2/9VETMGV9">vitamin K2</a> or by preventing the colonization of the intestine by harmful <a href="/facts/Pathogenic_bacteria/X5QcVN5j">pathogenic bacteria</a>. These mutually beneficial relationships between E. coli and humans are a type of <a href="/facts/Mutualism_(biology)/29hCDDS2">mutualistic</a> biological relationship—where both the humans and the E. coli are benefitting each other. E. coli is expelled into the environment within fecal matter. The bacterium grows massively in fresh fecal matter under <a href="/facts/Aerobic_organism/a629EQD7">aerobic conditions</a> for three days, but its numbers decline slowly afterwards.
Some <a href="/facts/Serotype/fUllA0xY">serotypes</a>, such as <a href="/facts/Enteropathogenic_Escherichia_coli/PwQrJAzS">EPEC</a> and <a href="/facts/Enterotoxigenic_Escherichia_coli/7GzTFLYq">ETEC</a>, are pathogenic, causing serious <a href="/facts/Foodborne_illness/9lxqlJqg">food poisoning</a> in their hosts. <a href="/facts/Fecal%25E2%2580%2593oral_route/oAl5TN9z">Fecal–oral transmission</a> is the major route through which pathogenic strains of the bacterium cause disease. This transmission method is occasionally responsible for <a href="/facts/Food_contamination/j1BcQIaC">food contamination</a> incidents that prompt product recalls. Cells are able to survive outside the body for a limited amount of time, which makes them potential <a href="/facts/Indicator_organism/TNEBVqf8">indicator organisms</a> to test environmental samples for <a href="/facts/Feces/r9HDKB8G">fecal contamination</a>. A growing body of research, though, has examined environmentally persistent E. coli which can survive for many days and grow outside a host.
The bacterium can be <a href="/facts/Microbiological_culture/y3VaXn9Q">grown and cultured</a> easily and inexpensively in a laboratory setting, and has been intensively investigated for over 60 years. E. coli is a <a href="/facts/Chemotroph/Uxca0Fab">chemoheterotroph</a> whose chemically defined medium must include a source of <a href="/facts/Carbon/ukrgQexo">carbon</a> and <a href="/facts/Energy/wd8PrQM7">energy</a>. E. coli is the most widely studied <a href="/facts/Prokaryote/oYyvaDDH">prokaryotic</a> <a href="/facts/Model_organism/vNv6q4yb">model organism</a>, and an important species in the fields of <a href="/facts/Biotechnology/8eFnI6FB">biotechnology</a> and <a href="/facts/Microbiology/k7udsq81">microbiology</a>, where it has served as the <a href="/facts/Host_organism/L6mop0kh">host organism</a> for the majority of work with <a href="/facts/Recombinant_DNA/dT3PL7M6">recombinant DNA</a>. Under favourable conditions, it takes as little as 20 minutes to reproduce.

Escherichia coli open-in-new

Escherichia coli