preview

E. Coli Research Papers

Decent Essays

Escherichia coli, also known as E.coli, is a type of bacterium that was first recognized hundreds of years ago by a German bacteriologist, Theodor Escherich. Escherichia coli was initially named Bacterium coli, but later was changed to credit the founder of the bacteria. E.coli is the most commonly used bacteria for biological lab research and experiments. E.coli is characterized as a gram-negative, facultative anaerobic, rod shaped bacteria that can be found almost everywhere, from plant soil to animal feces to the lower intestine of humans and animals. There are several different strains of E.coli, differing in their genotype. Due to the natural biological process of mutations, there have been 700 serotypes of E.coli identified. E.coli serotypes …show more content…

This strain of E.coli can be transmitted by infected foods such as meat and contaminated beverages. These infections are common among industrialized countries where infected meat are quickly processed and prepared with uncontaminated meat and shipped across the country. In 1982, the first Escherichia coli serotype O157:H7 infection was associated with hamburgers from fast-food chains (Ehnes, 2010). This strain of E.coli can exist in the intestine of some cattle, therefore, contamination can occur during the slaughtering process. Normally, the bacteria is present on the surface of the meat, but when grounding the infected meat into hamburgers, the bacteria can enter the center of the meat and cause infection if the hamburger is not cooked properly. Preventing contamination is difficult since it only takes a few cells to cause infection. The best way to prevent infection is by simply cooking or pasteurizing foods and beverages since this strain can easily be killed by heat (Thiel, 1999). This strain of E.coli has different genetic characteristics than the strain that exists as normal flora in the human intestine by its ability to release poisonous substances called toxins. E.coli serotype O157:H7 is known to produce specific toxins from its extra gene named Shiga-toxins. These toxins work to inactivate the 60S ribosomal subunit of eukaryotic cells, inhibiting the translation …show more content…

Different strains of E.coli can be isolated and identified by a variety of biochemical tests. The biochemical tests commonly used to identify E.coli include: lactose, oxidase, indole, and beta-glucuronidase tests. The use of lactose to identify a strain of E.coli is an appropriate method since intestinal bacteria, such as E.coli, typically undergo lactose fermentation. Using MacConkey agar, microbiologist are able to analyze if lactose is fermented and detected by the change of color in the medium. The oxidase test is used to identify if the bacteria synthesizes the enzyme cytochrome c oxidase that is part of the electron transport chain. When the enzyme cytochrome c oxidase is present, the reduced reagent, tetramethyl-p-phenylenediamine will donate its electron to cytochrome c oxidase and a purple color end product will show in the media. The indole test is performed by microbiologist to determine if E.coli is capable of converting tryptophan to indole. Lastly, beta-glucuronidase test is used to determine if an organism produces the enzyme glucuronidase by hydrolysis of nitrophenyl-beta-glucopyranosiduronic acid. In the presence of glucuronidase, the medium develops a yellow color (Trepeta & Edberg,

Get Access