Castellani and Chalmers 1919 Bacillus coli communis Escherich
1885 Escherichia coli (pron.: / /; commonly abbreviated E. coli)
is a Gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found
in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms (endotherms).
Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some serotypes can cause
serious food poisoning in humans, and are occasionally
responsible for product recalls due to food contamination. The
harmless strains are part of the normal flora of the gut, and
can benefit their hosts by producing vitamin K2, and by
preventing the establishment of pathogenic bacteria within the
intestine. E. coli and related bacteria constitute about 0.1% of
gut flora, and fecal–oral transmission is the major route
through which pathogenic strains of the bacterium cause disease.
Cells are able to survive outside the body for a limited amount
of time, which makes them ideal indicator organisms to test
environmental samples for fecal contamination. There is,
however, a growing body of research th