Escherichia coli O121 str. RM8352 genome sequencing

The rise in foodborne-related outbreaks of non O157 shiga-toxin producing E. coli (STECs) emphasizes the importance of developing improved methods to rapidly detect and characterize STECs. The major serovars of STEC associated with illness have been O26, O111, O103, O121, O45, and O145, accounting for 25-50% of human illness caused by STECs and, in some cases, severe illness comparable to illness caused by E. coli O157:H7. Sequencing of STECs from the agriculturally important region of the California central coast will address the diversity of genomic content and physiology of STECs compared to E. coli O157.