PetriKey

Bacterium

Clostridium perfringens

Anaerobic spore-forming rod

klos-TRID-ee-um per-FRIN-jenz

Gram positivebacteriagram-positiverodanaerobesporetoxin

High-yield clue

Spore-forming anaerobic rod + alpha-toxin vocabulary.

Overview

A spore-forming anaerobic rod used to connect toxin vocabulary, tissue-damage educational cases, and Clostridium comparison.

Classification

  • Gram-positive
  • Rod
  • Anaerobe
  • Spore-former

Lab & identification clues

  • Double-zone hemolysis vocabulary
  • Spore-forming rod concept
  • Anaerobe vocabulary

Associations

  • Gas gangrene vocabulary
  • Food poisoning vocabulary
  • Clostridium comparison drills

Commonly confused with

  • Clostridioides difficile
  • Clostridium tetani
  • Bacillus species

Your notes

Original student-study summary. Sources checked: OpenStax Microbiology 2e, NCBI Bookshelf Medical Microbiology, and CDC topic pages where applicable; reviewed 2026-06. Educational only; no diagnosis, treatment, dosing, or specimen-handling guidance.

OpenStax: Microbiology 2e organism classification foundationssourceNCBI Bookshelf: Medical Microbiology organism chapterssourceCDC: CDC disease and public-health topic pagessource