Escherichia coli (pronunciado /eske'rikia 'koli/), también conocida por la abreviación de su nombre, E. coli, es un bacilo gramnegativo de la familia de las enterobacterias que se encuentra en el tracto gastrointestinal de humanos y animales de sangre caliente. E. coli es la bacteria anaerobia facultativa comensal más abundante de la flora intestinal; asimismo, es uno de los organismos patógenos más relevantes en el hombre, tanto en la producción de infecciones gastrointestinales como de otros sistemas (urinario, sanguíneo, nervioso). Fue descrita por primera vez en 1885 por Theodore von Escherich, bacteriólogo alemán, quien la denominó Bacterium coli commune. Posteriormente la taxonomía le adjudicó el nombre de Escherichia coli, en honor a su descubridor. Ésta y otras bacterias son necesarias para el funcionamiento correcto del proceso digestivo, además de producir las vitaminas B y K. Es un bacilo que reacciona negativamente a la tinción de Gram (gramnegativo), es anaerobio facultativo, móvil por flagelos peritricos (que rodean su cuerpo), no forma esporas, es capaz de fermentar la glucosa y la lactosa y su prueba de IMVIC es ++--.[cita requerida] Es una bacteria utilizada frecuentemente en experimentos de genética y biología molecular.[cita requerida]

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Escherichia coli (/ˌɛʃᵻˈrɪkiə ˈkoʊlaɪ/; also known as E. coli) is a gram-negative, facultatively anaerobic, rod-shaped bacterium of the genus Escherichia that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms (endotherms). Most E. coli strains are harmless, but some serotypes can cause serious food poisoning in their hosts, and are occasionally responsible for product recalls due to food contamination. The harmless strains are part of the normal flora of the gut, and can benefit their hosts by producing vitamin K2, and preventing colonization of the intestine with pathogenic bacteria. E. coli is expelled into the environment within fecal matter. The bacterium grows massively in fresh fecal matter under aerobic conditions for 3 days, but its numbers decline slowly afterwards. E. coli and other facultative anaerobes constitute about 0.1% of gut flora, and fecal–oral transmission is the major route through which pathogenic strains of the bacterium cause disease. Cells are able to survive outside the body for a limited amount of time, which makes them potential indicator organisms to test environmental samples for fecal contamination. A growing body of research, though, has examined environmentally persistent E. coli which can survive for extended periods outside of a host. The bacterium can be grown and cultured easily and inexpensively in a laboratory setting, and has been intensively investigated for over 60 years. E. coli is a chemoheterotroph whose chemically defined medium must include a source of carbon and energy. E. coli is the most widely studied prokaryotic model organism, and an important species in the fields of biotechnology and microbiology, where it has served as the host organism for the majority of work with recombinant DNA. Under favorable conditions, it takes only 20 minutes to reproduce.

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