Escherichia Coli: An Intricate Role in Enterobacteriaceae Family

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Escherichia coli is a member of the family Enterobacteriaceae. It is a bacterium with a cell wall that has many components. Escherichia coli can live without oxygen which means that it is a facultative anaerobe. It is also capable of fermenting lactose under anaerobic conditions, and in the absence of alternative electron acceptors. There are effects and various factors that limit its growth rate. Its morphology consists of a rod-shaped gram negative bacteria that is commonly found in soil, water, vegetation, human intestines, as well as the intestines of animals. Its presence can be good or bad. The family Enterobacteriaceae consists of a large number of genera which are genetically and biochemically related to one another. Escherichia coli is a component of that family. This bacterium was discovered by a German pediatrician and bacteriologist named Theodor It has an outer membrane that contains lipopolysaccharides, a periplasmic space with a peptidoglycan layer, and an inner cytoplasmic membrane. It also consists of adhesive fimbriae. Some strains of E. coli are piliated and are capable of accepting, as well as transferring plasmid to and from other bacteria. This enables the bacteria under stressful or bad conditions to survive. Although its structure is simple with only one chromosomal DNA and a plasmid, it can perform complicated metabolism to help maintain its cell division and cell growth. E. coli produce very rapidly; a single microscopic cell can divide to form a visible colony with millions of cells overnight (phschool.com). It is the preferred bacteria in most laboratories because it grows fast and easy, and can obtain energy from a wide variety of sources. Since the birth of molecular cloning, E. coli has been used as a host for introduced DNA sequences (biotechlearn.org.nz). In 1973, Boyer and Cohen showed that two short pieces of DNA could be cut and pasted together, and returned to

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