Complete Genome Sequence of the Crohn’s Disease-Associated Adherent-Invasive Escherichia coli Strain HM605

Adherent-invasive Escherichia coli strains are increasingly being associated with intestinal pathologies. Here we present the genome sequence of E. coli HM605, a strain isolated from colonic biopsy specimens of a patient with Crohn’s disease. Crohn’s disease is a disorder of the bowel resulting from chronic inflammation. Several lines of investigation have asso-ciated microorganisms with stimulating the inflammation as-sociated with Crohn’s disease. Adherent invasive Escherichia coli (AIEC) has been demonstrated to colonize the intestinal mucosa of patients suffering with Crohn’s disease (2). AIEC differs from commensal E. coli in that it invades and replicates extensively within epithelial and macrophage cells (1). Further-more, it differs from the classical intestinal pathovars of E. coli since it is not associated with diarrhea (3–5, 11). Escherichia coli HM605 is a strain of adherent-invasive Escherichia coli. E. coli HM605 was isolated from a colonic biopsy specimen taken fro