E. Coli Bacteria

Escherichia coli, or better known as E. Coli, is one of the most commonly studied single-cell organisms because it is easier to manipulate and it is abundant. Some E. Coli strains can be pathogenic, but most are harmless. They can help benefit digestive health by filling niches in place of more harmful microorganisms. Because it is a diverse group of related microorganisms, it can be difficult to find the boundaries defining the species. Some strains are natural while others are genetically created in labs, which can be observed in aspects of an organism (Schussler).

The transformation of E. coli using plasmid DNA was a success. The positive control plate had a near lawn of blue colonies growing on the plate. This indicated that the E. coli cells took up the plasmid and became ampicillin resistant. The blue colonies formed because the cells were able to produce β galactoisdase and in presence of X-gal the colonies turned blue. There were light blue colonies formed near the edge of the plate. This could due to the lower concentration of X-gal near the edge of the plate so those colonies were not really blue. In addition, there were too many colonies to count so we estimated the transformation efficiency of the positive control to be around 2000 units/μg. On the other hand, the negative is shown in figure

I had recently experienced the terror that is referred to as E. Coli. I can tell you all about how it is much worse than the flu, although I will also be talking about this one girl I stumbled upon on the internet also. She had a life threatening experience that you can definitely experience if you go untreated when finding out that you have E. Coli. She had it for 19 days straight when I had been extremely lucky that I had only had it for eight days. I know that I definitely did not feel lucky, but doing this project has let me realize that I was very fortunate. Some people just chalk it up as the stomach flu like my mother and aunt did, but my grandmother knew it was something more than that. She ended up taking me to Med Express which is not a very good place to go if you want to get a work release on the same day or week by the way. On top of the issues I had at the doctor it was nonstop viral- like symptoms that only got worse until they got better.

Escherichia Coli, or E. coli, resides in the large intestine where it assists digestion and make up essential molecules like Vitamin K. For the most part, E. Coli poses no threat although there are few disease causing strains that can cause mild to severe food poisoning by finding its way into food supply (Timmons, Trzepacz, Duboinis-Gray). Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli, or EPEC, is a strain of diseasing causing E. Coli that is the leading cause of death in children with diarrhea in many parts of the world. EPEC colonizes in the intestine allowing the host to be invaded which can spread from person to person (Pearson, Wong fok Lung, Hartland, Giogha). Another strain of disease causing E. Coli also causes diarrhea in children is the DEC

The objective of this experiment was to observe the transformation occurrence with E.coli and the ampicillin resistance gene.When plasmids like lux or pUC18 are added in E.coli, they are more likely to survive in certain environments that contain antibiotics. Plasmid can carry genes enabling bacteria like E.coli to survive in harsh conditions. This experiment displayed how plasmid work when inserted in E.coli with and without ampicillin. In certain agar plates, ampicillin was added with either the lux plasmid or the pUC18 plasmid resulting in colony growth. In other agar plates, no ampicillin was added when either the lux plasmid or the pUC18 plasmid was added resulting in colony growth. If growth occurred from the bacteria when it was added in the Ampicillin agar plates, then it was determined that the E.coli was transformed successfully and is expressing the Ampicillin resistant genes.

The purpose of this lab is to use genetic engineering to transform E. coli bacteria by inserting the plasmid pGLO, and to then see if the bacteria was transformed by using the antibiotic, ampicillin.

In the past scientist have used the bacteria Escherichia coli (E. coli) in Synthetic Biology to allow the bacterial species to recognise and respond to light frequencies providing greater knowledge of complex biological systems (Levskaya et al. 2005). E. coli is a suitable chassis to express Green Fluorescent Protein (GFP) as the bacteria’s plasmid helps to establish GFP (Chavshin et al. 2013). The bacterial plasmid is a maltose-binding protein that helps E. coli and GFP fuse together and allows for detection of gene expression and controlling internal environments (Feilmeier et al. 2000). As GFP is a useful biological indicator due to its fluorescent structure (Mazzola et al. 2005) and through the ability of E. coli responding to light, GFP is easily expressed through the process of light stimulation (Lee, J et al. 2013). Through the unique structure and functions found within E. coli, it allows for successful expression of GFP making E. coli a suitable base organism.

Overtime, the evolution of bacteria has been utilized as a tool to produce medicines such as insulin and even varios growth hormones. Transformational success of bacteria is mainly due to versatile genetic coding, enabling researchers to transfer DNA to numerous amounts of organisms. Studies have utilized quantitative analysis to design experiments and expose Escherichia coli, commonly known as E-Coli, to a plasmid surface obtaining genes that have the potential to resist Ampicillin, which is identified as an antibiotic. A substance known as Calcium chloride was used to eliminate repulsion that existed between the DNA and cell wall of the bacteria. The Heat shock method was utilized to give DNA a required energy boost to enter the bacteria

The human body harbours huge and complex microbial communities, called the microbiota. The microbiota is gaining importance in human health due to increasing evidence that its bacterial component plays a role in the occurrence of chronic diseases [1]. In this regard, gastrointestinal tract (GIT) (or gut) bacteria are very important [2], being the niche for many bacteria which have been extensively studied [3]. Rather than the action of single or group of gut bacteria, perturbation of the overall gut bacteria (dysbiosis) is crucial for the integrity of the GIT and extra-GIT disorders [4]. The gut bacterial composition is influenced by both intrinsic and extraneous factors [5]. These extraneous factors include diet [6] and physical activity [7].

When we think of bacteria we don’t think of them as being a good thing especially when we think of Salmonella or Ecoli. It brings a sick feeling to your stomach or a cringe. But these microbes are being used for the greater good. Scientist are putting them to work. They are being genetically altered or medically laced to fight disease or to absorb lethal substances in the environment that contaminates our soil, water, and vegetation. If you can teach them or expose them to the appropriate environment they can be beneficial. Some might call this playing God while others may see it as a useful tool to put something there is an abundance of or is naturally occurring in a place where there is contamination and create a healthy

There a lot of bacteria but one of the most harmful and helpful bacteria is E-coli.E-coli can be found in water tank of cities which is what you drink every day. Also can be found in cheese, milk, vegetables, beef patties.How E-coli can be good is that it helps humans digest food. The harmful E-coli can cause serious illness if got to any organism in the body and can even kill someone if they have a weak immune system.

There are many types of bacteria. Bacteria are a large group of unicellular microorganisms that have cells walls but lack organelles and an organized nucleus. Some bacteria can cause diseases that are becoming resistant to antibiotics. One of these bacteria is Escherichia coli. If garlic can prevent the growth of E. coli, a special of rod-shaped, facultative anaerobic bacteria in the large intestine of humans and other animals, it might prevent the growth of other bacteria (WebMD, 2010).

After incubating of the two replicate strains of E. coli each in the 0%, 0.1%, 0.25% and 0.5% garlic extract dilutions, the optical densities of E. coli were taken at an absorbance reading of 600 nm in a spectrophotometer over a growth timespan of 25 hours. The exponential growth curves as seen in Figure 2A were measured from the timepoint of the hour 2 to hour 6, the growth phase, which was where majority of the growth grew in an upward slope, and then the growth curves had slowed into the stationary phase around the seventh to eighth hour where the growth curves were becoming more constant all the way to the 25th hour timepoint as seen in Figure 1A.

When I read this case study, I had initially thought maybe it’s cholera due to the watery diarrhea. After searching up cholera, I found out it was not cholera and some other type of bacterial infection. Then I looked up types of food infections and found nothing so I had to narrow down the search and searched for “bacterial-borne food illnesses.” This led me to most bacterias that caused illnesses from either contaminated food or food that were not properly prepared. On this list I found that Escherichia coli was the suspect, except that the general E.coli bacteria is usually a sorbitol-fermenter and the only exception is one of the strains called “E.coli 0157:H7.” I confirmed this by searching up the sorbitol fermentation and found the sorbitol-MacConkey

From the results table we notice that on an average Amoxicillin is the most effective in inhibiting the growth of the strains of E.Coli bacteria with bleach coming in as second effective. In some cases Isocol had little or no effect to the bacteria culture growth, showing some results similar to the controlled variable. However on average it was still the least effective, even though like Dettol, Isocol is classified as an antiseptic chemical. In saying this however when looking at the chart Isocol seems to have the most inconsistencies leading me to believe that with further experimentation Isocol may in fact be a little more effective.