The clostridia represent a large prokaryotic genus, encompassing anaerobic Gram-positive bacteria able to form endospores. Certain members may be employed on an industrial scale for the production of chemical fuels, eg., biobutanol by Clostridium acetobutylicum and Clostridium beijerinckii. However, the genus has achieved greatest notoriety as a consequence of those members that cause disease in humans and domestic animals. In recent years, the medical and economic impact of these diseases has assumed worrying proportions. Thus, mortality due to C. difficile is increasing as a consequence of the emergence of a highly virulent clone of C. difficile, necrotic enteritis in fowl has dramatically increased due to C. perfringens and there are heightened public concerns over the use of C. botulinum by bioterrorists.
This website is a resource for information on Clostridium species. It provides general information on the various members of the genus and the diseases they cause, gives links to research groups active around the globe, documents forthcoming international conferences covering research activity in the area ('ClostPath', 'Clostridium' and the Marie Curie 'Clostridia' Conference and Workshop series), acts as the gateway to several transnational research programmes (CDEPT, EACCAD and SysMo), and is the homepage of the UK Society for Anaerobic Microbiology (SAM).
BREAKING NEWS
22 EXCITING PhD RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES IN CLOSTRIDIA
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3rd International Clostridium difficile Symposium
22nd - 24th SEPTEMBER 2010, BLED, SLOVENIA
EVENTS
March 30th-31st 2010
Practical Anaerobic Microbiology
Venue: Cardiff
A two-day residential course; covering the theory and best practice of anaerobic microbiology in routine clinical microbiology laboratories.
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