E. coli
A gram negative, rod shaped bacterium that is mostly harmless, but some strains can cause serious illness[1].E. coli bacteria ws discovered in 1885 by the german bacteriologists Theodor Escherich.[2]Commonly used in genetic engineering to mass produce proteins by inserting recombinant plasmids (e.g. to produce insulin). It is also used as a model organism because it can be easily manipulated, has a short generation time and its genome has been sequenced. Urinary tract infections and especially E. coli intestinal infection can be caused by making contact with faeces of humans and animals[3].
See Escherichia coli for more details.
References
- ↑ http://www.cdc.gov/ecoli/general/index.html
- ↑ Feng, Peter, et al., “Enumeration of Escherichia coli and the Coliform Bacteria,” in BACTERIOLOGICAL ANALYTICAL MANUAL (8th Ed. 2002)
- ↑ Cold F, Health E, Disease H, Management P, Conditions S, Problems S et al. E. Coli Infection From Food or Water-Topic Overview [Internet]. WebMD. 2016 [cited 5 December 2016]. Available from: http://www.webmd.com/a-to-z-guides/tc/e-coli-infection-topic-overview#1