Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs) are a group of inflammatory conditions of the gut that include ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease. Probiotics are live micro-organisms that may be used as adjuvant therapy for patients with IBD. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of prophylactic ingestion of Escherichia coli strain Nissle 1917 (EcN) in a murine model of colitis. For induction of colitis, mice were given a 3.5 % dextran sodium sulfate (DSS) solution for 7 days in drinking water. EcN administration to mice subjected to DSS-induced colitis resulted in significant reduction in clinical and histopathological signs of disease and preservation of intestinal permeability. We observed reduced inflammation, as assessed by reduced levels of neutrophils, eosinophils, chemokines and cytokines. We observed an increase in the number of regulatory T-cells in Peyer's patches. Germ-free mice received faecal content from control or EcN-treated mice and were then subjected to DSS-induced colitis. We observed protection from colitis in animals that were colonized with faecal content from EcN-treated mice. These results suggest that preventative oral administration of EcN or faecal microbiota transplantation with EcN-containing microbiota ameliorates DSS-induced colitis by modifying inflammatory responsiveness to DSS.