Clostridioides
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 difficile

Clostridioides is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria, which includes Clostridioides difficile, a human pathogen causing an infectious diarrhea.

Taxonomy

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] Since C. mangenotii was further separated into a distinct genus in 2024,^[3] Clostridioides is a monotypic genus.

Description

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]}

References