Escherichia coli
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- A commensal bacterium inhabiting the human colon that is widely used in biology, both as a simple model of cell biochemical function and as a host for molecular cloning experiments.
Susan Allender-Hagedorn and Charles Hagedorn - Cite This Source - This Definition - A commensal bacterium inhabiting the colon of many animal species, including human. E. coli is widely used as a model of cell biochemical function, and as a host for. In environmental studies, its presence is a key indicator of water pollution due to human sewage effluent. Some strains, notably E. coli 0157:H7, are significant pathogens.
UN Food and Agriculture Organization - Cite This Source - This Definition - Bacillus, coccus, exotoxin, pathovar, vibrio
- Common bacterium that has been studied intensively by geneticists because of its small genome size, normal lack of pathogenicity, and ease of growth in the laboratory.
Human Genome Project - Cite This Source - This Definition - bioinformatics, Computational biology, functional genomics, genomics, Molecular biology, Toxicogenomics