Name: Escherichia coli (Migula 1895) Castellani and Chalmers 1919 (Approved Lists 1980)

Category: Species

Proposed as: comb. nov.

Basonym: "Bacillus coli" Migula 1895

Etymology: co’li. L. neut. n. colon, the colon; L. gen. neut. n. coli, of the colon

Gender: feminine

Type strain: ATCC 11775; CCUG 24; CCUG 29300; CIP 54.8; DSM 30083; JCM 1649; LMG 2092; NBRC 102203; NCCB 54008; NCTC 9001

See detailed strain information at

Conduct genome-based taxonomy at

16S rRNA gene: AB681728 Analyse FASTA

Effective publication: Castellani A, Chalmers AJ. Manual of Tropical Medicine, 3rd ed. Williams Wood and Co., New York, 1919.

IJSEM list: Skerman VBD, McGowan V, Sneath PHA. Approved lists of bacterial names. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1980; 30:225-420.

Nomenclatural status: validly published under the ICNP

Taxonomic status: correct name

Risk group: 2

• Synonyms:

  • Name	Kind
    "Bacillus coli" Migula 1895	homotypic synonym, not validly published, basonym of name in Approved Lists

• Notes:
  • Nomenclatural type of the genus Escherichia Castellani and Chalmers 1919 (Approved Lists 1980). Publication: Castellani A, Chalmers AJ. Manual of Tropical Medicine, 3rd ed. Williams Wood and Co., New York, 1919.
  • According to Bartlett et al. (2022), this species is an established human pathogen. Publication: Bartlett A, Padfield D, Lear L, Bendall R, Vos M. A comprehensive list of bacterial pathogens infecting humans. Microbiology 2022; 168:0.
  • See also Clermont et al. (2015). Publication: Clermont O, Gordon D, Denamur E. Guide to the various phylogenetic classification schemes for Escherichia coli and the correspondence among schemes. Microbiology (Reading) 2015; 161:980-988.
  • The genome of the type strain was sequenced as part of the GEBA (Genomic Encyclopedia of Bacteria and Archaea) project. Publication: Meier-Kolthoff JP, Hahnke RL, Petersen J, Scheuner C, Michael V, Fiebig A, Rohde C, Rohde M, Fartmann B, Goodwin LA, et al. Complete genome sequence of DSM 30083^T, the type strain (U5/41^T) of Escherichia coli, and a proposal for delineating subspecies in microbial taxonomy. Stand Genomic Sci 2014; 9:2.
  • Escherichia coli and the four species of the genus Shigella are a single species on the basis of DNA relatedness. Moreover, these taxa are often difficult to separate biochemically, and pathogenicity does not provide definitive separation (some Escherichia coli strains can cause a dysentery-like diarrhea). However, they remain separate species to avoid confusion in medical microbiology. Publication: Brenner DJ. Family I. Enterobacteriaceae Rahn 1937, Nom. fam. cons. Opin. 15, Jud. Com. 1958, 73; Ewing, Farmer, and Brenner 1980, 674; Judicial Commission 1981, 104. In: Krieg NR, Holt JG (eds), Bergey's Manual of Systematic Bacteriology, first edition, vol. 1, The Williams & Wilkins Co, Baltimore, 1984, p. 408-420.

Parent taxon: Escherichia Castellani and Chalmers 1919 (Approved Lists 1980)

Assigned by: Castellani A, Chalmers AJ. Manual of Tropical Medicine, 3rd ed. Williams Wood and Co., New York, 1919.

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Record number: 776057