Abstract 2258 Evaluation of Metabolic Modelling Approach for Environmentally Derived E. coli Strains Using Experimental and Genomic Analysis

Escherichia coli is one of the most well studied organisms given its ubiquity in water sources and mammalian gut flora. However, while clinical and animal derived strains are very well characterized, the complexities of the metabolic diversity of E. coli populations in environmental water sources is not as well understood. Therefore, as a part of monitoring the Macatawa Watershed in western Michigan, we have isolated over 10,000 strains of water derived E. coli over a period of 9 years and have sequenced 519 of these strains.