Pathogenic Escherichia coli

This article's lead section may be too short to adequately summarize the key points. Please consider expanding the lead to provide an accessible overview of all important aspects of the article. (March 2022)

Pathogenic Escherichia coli
Scientific classification
Domain:	Bacteria
Phylum:	Pseudomonadota
Class:	Gammaproteobacteria
Order:	Enterobacteriales
Family:	Enterobacteriaceae
Genus:	Escherichia
Species:	E. coli
Binomial name
Escherichia coli (Migula 1895) Castellani and Chalmers 1919
Synonyms
Bacillus coli communis Escherich 1885

Escherichia coli (/ˌɛʃəˈrɪkiə ˈkoʊlaɪ/ ESH-ə-RIK-ee-ə KOH-ly; commonly abbreviated E. coli) is a gram-negative, rod-shaped bacterium that is commonly found in the lower intestine of warm-blooded organisms (endotherms). Most E. coli strains are harmless, but pathogenic varieties cause serious food poisoning, septic shock, meningitis, or urinary tract infections in humans.^[1][2] Unlike normal flora E. coli, the pathogenic varieties produce toxins and other virulence factors that enable them to reside in parts of the body normally not inhabited by E. coli, and to damage host cells.^[3] These pathogenic traits are encoded by virulence genes carried only by the pathogens.^[3]