User:Reyesed7/Bacillus coli

Introduction of Bacillus coli as a subspecies of Escherichia coli
There are many strains of Escherichia coli (E. coli), with many non-harmful strains and beneficial strains of the bacteria. Bacillus coli communis is one of these "strains" which is a member of the species E. coli. Its unique characteristics which will be discussed later on under the heading  "Morphology," merit the need to classify it as its own strain. Overall, each strain shares about 20 percent of its genome with one another.

Common Habitat and Its Effect on Bacillus Coli
Bacillus coli communis was first discovered in 1926 by microbiologist Emmerisch, who referred to this strain as colon Bacillus because that is where it is most commonly found. This strain of E. coli is mostly found in the feces of human males and in their colons. Furthermore, it can also be found in the vagina and uterus of females. It can also be found in water and other sources where contamination can occur like grass and surface areas. The cilia around the cell allows it to move around the organs and intestines of organisms. Its location or habitat can effect whether it is pathogenic or beneficial. For example, if it is found in the intestinal canal it is not pathogenic. However, if it is found in the peritonuem: the membrane in between the lining of the abdominal cavity, it can lead to serious medical conditions if perforations or holes develop in the peritonuem of the intestinal canal or esophagus.

Morphology and Biochemical Properties
Bacillus coli has multiple or single cilia structures situated at the side of the bacilli along with slender, locomotive pore-less rods. This motility only occurs in young colonies of the strain when studied under "gelatin plates." Bacillus coli communis is also very sluggish, and when place under sterile milk it succeeds in producing coagulation unlike other strains of E. coli like Bacillus typhosus. Further studies were done by Mackenna from the Philadelphia Medical Journal where Bacillus coli and Bacillus typhosus were experimented on in order to make distinctions between the two strains. It was found that under sugarated buillons, Bacillus ferments the lactose. In mineral water, this strain develops very well unlike Bacillus typhosus. In maltose gelatin culture, Bacillus coli is shown to have irregular edges which is in contrast to the Bacillus typhosus. It also assumes a very red bluish color while Bacillus typhosus remains a bluish color similar to most strains of E. coli when grown in litmus agar. These experiments were done in order to prove that these two strains were indeed distinguishable.

Phylogeny
As mentioned above Bacillus coli is just one of the many strains that belongs to the E. coli bacteria group. This particular strain of E. coli evolved from natural biological processes like horizontal gene transfer, and mutations like gene duplication. All new strains evolved from the K-12 strain or the E. coli B. strains. Depending on the strain's evolution of virulence will determine whether or not it will be harmful for organisms. A number of strains have been divided into 6 groups. Although they can be divided through their serotype, or the number of antigens on their surfaces, the following graph shows the phylogeny between the species which was created using molecular DNA sequences. Four different species of shigella were grouped with E.coli according to their pathogenic relatedness. In addition, the most commonly used research of E. coli strains were found in group A and some were found in group B (strain) where Bacillus coli is grouped.

Significance
E. coli is one of the most popular and talked about bacterias in the media and in society, since its discovery a century ago. When most people think of E. coli and its strains, they have a negative connotation for causing food poising and other contaminations. However, most strains of E. coli like Bacillus coli can be used for medical research. In addition, our bodies need it to help fight off harmful bacteria and it can even produce viatamin K(2)since it is part of the normal flora of our guts.