[2][3][4][5] In 2016, the description and members of this family were emended based on comparative genomic analyses by Adeolu et al.[6] Enterobacteriaceae includes, along with many harmless symbionts, many of the more familiar pathogens, such as Salmonella, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella, and Shigella.

Most members of Enterobacteriaceae have peritrichous, type I fimbriae involved in the adhesion of the bacterial cells to their hosts.

Like other Pseudomonadota, Enterobacteriaceae have Gram-negative stains,[9] and they are facultative anaerobes, fermenting sugars to produce lactic acid and various other end products.

Unlike most similar bacteria, Enterobacteriaceae generally lack cytochrome c oxidase, there are exceptions.

Some members of the Enterobacteriaceae produce endotoxins that, when released into the bloodstream following cell lysis, cause a systemic inflammatory and vasodilatory response.

[13][14] The original classification of species to this family and order was largely based on 16S rRNA genome sequence analyses, which is known to have low discriminatory power and the results of which changes depends on the algorithm and organism information used.

Despite this, the analyses still exhibited polyphyletic branching, indicating the presence of distinct subgroups within the family.

[6] These CSIs provide a molecular means of distinguishing Enterobacteriaceae from other families within the order Enterobacterales and other bacteria.

[18] Various carbapenemases genes (blaOXA-48, blaKPC and blaNDM-1, blaVIM and blaIMP) have been identified in carbapenem resistant Enterobacteriaceae including Escherichia coli and Klebsiella pneumoniae.