The DOI matches its Crossref record; 252 of the 252 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
The non-pathogenic Escherichia coli strain Nissle 1917 – features of a versatile probiotic
Open accessAbstract
Probiotics are non-pathogenic living microorganisms which, when administered in adequate amounts, confer a health benefit on the host. Probiotic microorganisms most often are constituents of special foodstuffs, such as fermented milk products or food supplements. They are also employed as feed additives in livestock breeding and as active components of medical remedies in human and veterinary medicine. In the food industry, probiotics traditionally are lactic acid bacteria (LAB), especially lactobacilli and lactococci, although bifidobacteria and strepcococci (enterococci) are also used. In livestock breeding and medicine, besides lactic acid bacteria other non-pathogenic microorganisms with health-promoting characteristics, e.g. certain strains of yeast (‘Saccharomyces boulardii’) and Escherichia coli (E. coli Nissle 1917), are also applied. This review focuses on the probiotic E. coli strain Nissle 1917 (EcN), its origin and medical history, microbiology, genetics, biological activities, safety, and toxicological aspects. Furthermore, clinical trials performed with this special E. coli strain will be summarized. The EcN strain was detected and isolated by Alfred Nissle in 1917 because of its antagonistic activity against some pathogenic entero-bacteria. With respect to its metabolic capacities, EcN is a typical E. coli strain. It is a non-pathogenic member of the Escherichia coli family, because it does does not carry pathogenic adhesion factors and does not produce any enterotoxins or cytotoxins, it is not invasive, not uropathogenic, and is rapidly killed by non-specific defense factors of blood serum. Besides this, EcN has some special characteristics that distinguish it from other pathogenic and non-pathogenic E. coli strains and are thought to be important for its probiotic activities. Thus, EcN carries so-called genomic islands (GEIs), integrated into its chromosome. On these GEIs, gene clusters coding for several fitness factors are present, e.g. genes for the production of microcins which inhibit the growth of other enterobacteria. Another strain-specific feature of EcN is a special lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in its outer cell membrane, being responsible for the fact that EcN exhibits immunomodulating properties without showing immunotoxic effects. The immunomodulating properties mainly focus on anti-inflammatory activities that are important for the clinical efficacy in remission maintenance of ulcerative colitis. Also of importance is the bacterial–epithelial crosstalk between EcN and the intestinal epithelial cells, leading to a strengthening of the epithelial barrier and the curing of ‘leaky gut’ phenomena. The restoration of a disturbed gut barrier by EcN is thought to be due to the stimulation of epithelial defensin production as well as to a ‘sealing effect’ on the tight junctions of the enterocytes. EcN has also been shown to induce the development of the gut immune system in animal models and human newborns. In addition, it has been found that products of EcN metabolism, probably acetic acid, promote colonic motility that might be helpful for therapeutic application in chronically constipated patients. Randomized controlled clinical trials (RCTs) have shown EcN to be therapeutically effective in rather diverse indications, such as ulcerative colitis, chronic constipation, and acute and protracted diarrhea.
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“having the capability of synthetizing and releasing colibactin, a mutagenic substance described to promote colorectal polyposis and cancer, and reducing cancer response to irinotecan [26, 34–39].”
From Selection, Comparative Genomics, and Potential Probiotic Features of Escherichia coli 5C, a pks-Negative Strain Isolated from Healthy Infant Donor Feces (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
In the citing paper
“the most widely used E. coli-based probiotic, known as E. coli Nissle 1917 (DSM 6601), is pks-positive.”
From Selection, Comparative Genomics, and Potential Probiotic Features of Escherichia coli 5C, a pks-Negative Strain Isolated from Healthy Infant Donor Feces (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
In the citing paper
“having common type fimbria (F1A), F1C fimbria, and Curli fimbria (respectively described as involved in biofilm formation and adhesion (F1A), gut and bladder colonization (F1C), and in bacterial aggregation (Curli) [26, 27]”
From Selection, Comparative Genomics, and Potential Probiotic Features of Escherichia coli 5C, a pks-Negative Strain Isolated from Healthy Infant Donor Feces (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
In the citing paper
“being strong bile-resistant and colonizing also due to the gene Rfah [26, 33]”
From Selection, Comparative Genomics, and Potential Probiotic Features of Escherichia coli 5C, a pks-Negative Strain Isolated from Healthy Infant Donor Feces (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
In the citing paper
“having O6 repeating units for LPS (a feature commonly found in extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli strains), K5-type for capsule (described to make serum-resistant the extra-intestinal pathogenic E. coli strains), and H1-type for flagella (responsible for strain motility) [26, 29, 30]”
From Selection, Comparative Genomics, and Potential Probiotic Features of Escherichia coli 5C, a pks-Negative Strain Isolated from Healthy Infant Donor Feces (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
In the citing paper
“having siderophores for iron acquisition (anti-inflammatory and/or fitness factors) [26, 28]”
From Selection, Comparative Genomics, and Potential Probiotic Features of Escherichia coli 5C, a pks-Negative Strain Isolated from Healthy Infant Donor Feces (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
In the citing paper
“having two plasmids (pMUT1 and pMUT2) synthetizing microcins M and H47 (active against Salmonella strains) [26, 31, 32]”
From Selection, Comparative Genomics, and Potential Probiotic Features of Escherichia coli 5C, a pks-Negative Strain Isolated from Healthy Infant Donor Feces (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
In the citing paper
“The serovar for E. coli Nissle 1917 is O6:K5:H1 [26].”
From Selection, Comparative Genomics, and Potential Probiotic Features of Escherichia coli 5C, a pks-Negative Strain Isolated from Healthy Infant Donor Feces (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
In the citing paper
“Regarding the genes of the most important toxins possibly found in E. coli [26], like α-Hemolysin (hly), CNF I (cytotoxic necrotizing factor I; cnf I), H-LT (heat-labile enterotoxin; etx), H-ST (heat-stable enterotoxin; est), and shiga toxins (stx), some of them also reported in Table 1, they were all not found in strain E. coli 5C.”
From Selection, Comparative Genomics, and Potential Probiotic Features of Escherichia coli 5C, a pks-Negative Strain Isolated from Healthy Infant Donor Feces (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
In the citing paper
“comparative analysis between the strain 5C and the strain Nissle 1917 shows substantial similarity in terms of antimicrobial resistance genes, where most of these putative resistances are species-specific elements attributable to the E. coli non-susceptibility to antibiotics commonly effective against Gram-positive bacteria (Online Resource 5) [26].”
From Selection, Comparative Genomics, and Potential Probiotic Features of Escherichia coli 5C, a pks-Negative Strain Isolated from Healthy Infant Donor Feces (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
In the citing paper
“As regards the gene rfaH, a transcriptional regulation factor enhancing the colonizing capability of E. coli strains and their capability to resist bile salts [26, 33], the strain E. coli 5C was found to have it.”
From Selection, Comparative Genomics, and Potential Probiotic Features of Escherichia coli 5C, a pks-Negative Strain Isolated from Healthy Infant Donor Feces (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
In the citing paper
“As regards iron acquisition (siderophores) [26], we have evaluated the following genes: ent (Enterobactin), iro (Salmochelin), iuc/aer (Aerobactin), ybt (Yersiniabactin), and chu (Hemin uptake system). They were all absent in E. coli 5C.”
From Selection, Comparative Genomics, and Potential Probiotic Features of Escherichia coli 5C, a pks-Negative Strain Isolated from Healthy Infant Donor Feces (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
In the citing paper
“when transurethrally inoculated into the bladder of female rats, the Nissle 1917 strain determines the presence of colonies both in the bladder and in the renal tissue [26].”
From Selection, Comparative Genomics, and Potential Probiotic Features of Escherichia coli 5C, a pks-Negative Strain Isolated from Healthy Infant Donor Feces (2026) · cites this paper as [26]
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Metadata
- Authors
- Sonnenborn, U., & Schulze, J.
- Affiliations
- Department of Biological Research
- Ardeypharm (Germany) (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Sonnenborn, Ulrich
- Venue
- Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2009-01
- Volume
- 21
- Issue
- 3-4
- Pages
- 122-158
- ISSN
- 0891-060X (ISSN-L)
- 1651-2235
- OpenAlex
- W1978437322
- Cited by
- 232
- References
- 252
- Citations by year
- 2026: 20 · 2025: 20 · 2024: 19 · 2023: 13 · 2022: 20 · 2021: 28 · 2020: 14 · 2019: 23 · 2018: 17 · 2017: 9 · 2016: 14 · 2015: 8 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 6 · 2012: 5
- FWCI
- 5.81
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- Microbial Ecology in Health and Disease (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Topics
- Life Sciences › Agricultural and Biological Sciences › Food Science › Probiotics and Fermented Foods
- Life Sciences › Immunology and Microbiology › Microbiology › Escherichia coli research studies
- Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Genetics › Bacterial Genetics and Biotechnology
- Keywords
- Escherichia coli Nissle 1917, probiotics, genomic islands, lipopolysaccharide, immunomodulation, anti-inflammatory activity, ulcerative colitis, Crohn's disease
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