Blog 15: E. Coli Background Info

Background information about E. coli. Describe the basic biology of E. coli. Review some key information about this model organism. 

Escherichia Coli, or E. Coli are a bacteria that are found inside intestines of warm-blooded animals. The bacteria are rod shaped. Most E. Coli are completely harmless as well as essential. They help with digestion by releasing B and K vitamins through a process in which the E. Coli helps break down food into usable, digestible nutrients. A couple of bad strains of E. Coli is called O157:H7, E. Coli 0121 and E. Coli 0104:H21. These strains comes from the runoff of fecal matter of other animals. It can leak into water sources, which are then used to supplement animals, and vegetables. If we ingest the meat of such animals or vegetables then we can get E. Coli poisoning which includes symptoms of vomiting and abdominal cramps, and long term effects of kidney failure. E. Coli poisoning occurs when the E. Coli from another organism get into your stomach. A common E. Coli breakout that comes from factory farms is E. Coli from the intestines of cows. In many cases when young children or elderly adults are infected with E. Coli, the poisoning can eventually lead to death because their immune systems are not as strong as an average, healthy adult.