Escherichia coli strain:51H Genome sequencing and assembly. Escherichia coli strain:51H

Escherichia coli are bacteria belonging to Enterobacteriaceae family. Although some strains are harmless, others can cause fever, urinary tract infection and respiratory illness. Same Escherichia coli strains are known to contain resistance genes to a variety of antibiotics. Recently, was found a mcr-1 gene which encodes resistance to colistin, the last choice of antibiotic therapy, thus raising a significant concern in the medical community.

大肠杆菌（Escherichia coli）隶属于肠杆菌科（Enterobacteriaceae）。尽管部分菌株无致病性，但另有部分菌株可引发发热、尿路感染及呼吸道疾病。已知此类大肠杆菌菌株携带针对多种抗生素的耐药基因。近期研究发现了一种mcr-1基因，该基因可编码对粘菌素（colistin）的耐药性——粘菌素是临床抗生素治疗的最后一线选择，这一发现引发了医学界的高度关注。