Shimwellia blattae
species of Gammaproteobacteria
Shimwellia blattae (formerly Escherichia blattae) is a species of Gram-negative bacterium, one of two in the genus Shimwellia. It is an aerobic enteric bacterium first isolated from the hindgut of cockroaches. Although it is related to human pathogens, including Escherichia coli, S. blattae is not pathogenic to humans. It is notable for its ability to synthesize vitamin B12 de novo.
History and taxonomy
The bacterium was first described in 1973 under the name Escherichia blattae after isolation from the hindgut of the cockroach species Blatta orientalis. It was reclassified to the genus Shimwellia based on phylogenetic analyses of its genome sequence.
Genome
The genome of S. blattae is about 4.2 megabases in size, slightly smaller than similar enteric bacteria found in humans. It has 56.5% GC content, significantly higher than E. coli. Genomic analysis suggests that the ability of S. blattae to synthesize vitamin B12 has its origins in horizontal gene transfer.
The public source identifies “Shimwellia blattae” as species of Gammaproteobacteria. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Shimwellia, blattae and species.
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Datasets, specimens, observations and peer-reviewed methods provide the appropriate test for the technical claims summarized here. The source revision retrieved here is dated Apr 17, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q26285486. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1973.
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This entry incorporates text from “Shimwellia blattae” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.