Colicins produced by Escherichia coli, a review

Abstract

Bacteria produce proteins called bacteriocins and can inhibit or even kill closely related species. Among the bacteriocins, Colicins are by far the most well-characterized group. They are generated by Escherichia coli and other Enterobacteriaceae family members, and they are effective against them. At least 34 Colicins have been identified, with 21 of them being more thoroughly studied, and they share not common set of properties. A group of carcinogenic bacteria generates colicin proteins under stressful conditions. The kind of stress that is causing the inductive activity must be specified. The release of colicins does not always result in the death of the cell that generates them.

Keywords

• colicins
• enterobacteriaceae
• escherichia coli