Clostridioides | |
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SE micrograph of Clostridioides difficile colonies from a stool sample | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Bacteria |
Phylum: | Bacillota |
Class: | Clostridia |
Order: | Eubacteriales |
Family: | Peptostreptococcaceae |
Genus: |
Clostridioides Lawson and Rainey (2016) |
Selected species | |
Clostridioides is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria, which includes Clostridioides difficile, a human pathogen causing an infectious diarrhea.
The genus Clostridioides was created to describe a few species formerly in the genus Clostridium which have been shown to be their own genetically distinct genus using 16S rRNA gene sequencing analysis. [1] However, both names are still in use and valid under the International Code of Nomenclature of Prokaryotes. [2]
They are obligate anaerobes capable of producing endospores. The normal, reproducing cells of Clostridioides, called the vegetative form, are rod-shaped, which gives them their name, from the Greek κλωστήρ or spindle. Clostridioides endospores, like Clostridium endospores, have a distinct bowling pin or bottle shape, distinguishing them from other bacterial endospores, which are usually ovoid in shape.[ citation needed]