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The superstar of the bacterial world: How did E. coli become the best model for scientific research?
In the world of microbiology, there is a name that is often mentioned, and that is Escherichia coli, often referred to as E. coli. Although this bacterium is often associated with food poisoning and intestinal disease in daily life, it is actually an important model organism for scientific research. The wide distribution, rapid growth and diversity of E. coli make it ideal for biotechnological and microbiological research.
E. coli is the most extensively studied prokaryotic model organism in the bacterial world.
This bacterium occurs naturally in the intestines of warm-blooded animals, and most strains of it are harmless or even beneficial to humans. They account for approximately 0.1% of the microbial composition in the intestine and assist the host in synthesizing vitamin K2 and preventing the colonization of harmful pathogenic bacteria. Because of this, a reciprocal biological relationship has been formed between E. coli and the human body, achieving symbiosis of mutual benefit.
However, not all E. coli strains are friendly. Some pathogenic strains (such as EPEC and ETEC) can cause severe food poisoning, and their main transmission route is fecal-oral transmission. The presence of these pathogenic bacteria also makes E. coli one of the indicator organisms for detecting fecal pollution in environmental samples. In recent years, scientists have intensively studied the hardy environment E. coli, which can survive for days outside the host.
E. coli is easy and cheap to grow in the laboratory, and the bacterium has become a cornerstone of molecular biology and genetic engineering research since the 1980s. The proliferation rate of E. coli can be as fast as once every 20 minutes under favorable conditions, which allows researchers to obtain sufficient samples for various experiments in a short period of time.
The genome of E. coli exhibits significant diversity compared to other bacteria.
In terms of biology and biochemistry, E. coli exhibits its diverse metabolic capabilities, being able to survive on different substrates and utilize mixed acid fermentation for energy acquisition. Such characteristics not only make E. coli a flexible bacterial model, but also provide rich information for studying its gene regulation and metabolic pathways.
There is also a phenomenon called "metabolic inhibition" in E. coli, which causes the bacteria to prefer the fastest-growing sugar when faced with multiple sugar sources, thereby efficiently utilizing limited metabolic resources. In addition, the cell cycle of E. coli is divided into three stages, and its proliferation rate will be significantly increased when nutrients are sufficient.
Through processes such as horizontal gene transfer and bacterial co-transduction, E. coli has demonstrated its genetic adaptability, which not only allows it to survive in changing environments, but also promotes the formation of new pathogen strains. Research shows that most pathogenic E. coli appear through gene transfer.
The diversity and innovation of E. coli make it a hub for fungal and bacterial research.
With the rapid progress of genomics, the complete genome sequence of E. coli was decoded for the first time in 1997, marking the important status of this bacterium in scientific research. In the following years, the genomes of hundreds of different E. coli strains were analyzed, and researchers found that the plasticity and diversity of their genomes presented great scientific value.
In summary, E. coli, as a model for microbiology and biotechnology research, not only deepens our understanding of microbial biology, but also opens up many new directions for genetic engineering and biomedical applications. However, the use of this bacterium also prompts us to think: How can we better utilize the properties of E. coli to solve global health and environmental problems in future scientific research?
