Escherichia coli: An Overview of Main Characteristics

Abstract

Escherichia coli is a type of bacteria that lives in many places in the environment, including the gastrointestinal system of humans and warm-blooded animals, where it is part of the gut microbiota. Some strains of E. coli can be administered as probiotics and are known to have a positive effect on host health. However, some strains can be pathogenic, causing intestinal and extraintestinal infections in humans as well as animals. E. coli is hence a bacterium with a wide range of different natural types of strains, each with its own set of features. Because of its unique qualities, such as simplicity of handling, availability of the entire genome sequence, and capacity to grow in both aerobic and anaerobic conditions, E. coli is also a popular bacterium for laboratory research and biotechnology. So, E. coli is considered to be the utmost widely utilized microbe in the field of recombinant DNA technology, and it is used in a wide range of industrial and medical applications.