Clostridium tertium

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Gram stain Culture

General information
- Taxonomy
  Family: Clostridiaceae
  
  Natural habitats
  Found in soil and gut of humans and other animals
  
  Clinical significance.
  Is considered to be a weak pathogen, but it has been implicated in severe infections, and has been increasingly recognized as a cause of bacteremia and other infections in immunocompromised patients, especially those with hematologic malignancies.
Gram stain
- Gram positive straight rods (Gram negative stained),
  
  0.5-1.4 x 1.5-10.2 µm,
  
  occurring singly or in pairs
  
  Only forms spores under anaerobic conditions
  
  Spores oval / terminal
  Swelling of the cell positive
Culture characteristics
- Obligate anaerobic ►AEROTOLERANT
  
  BBAØ: colonies are 2-4 mm in diameter, circular, low convex, have slightly irregular margins, are white to gray and have a matt surface and usually a mottled or granular internal structure.
  
  Hemolysis is variable and when present, colonies may be alpha- or beta-hemolytic.
  
  BA (aeroob) growth: colonies are 1 mm, circular with entire edges, are dome shaped and have an opalescent appearances.
  
  Colonies in agar are small and lenticular
Characteristics
References
- James Versalovic et al.(2011) Manual of Clinical Microbiology 10th Edition