[Preliminary identification of clinically significant Clostridium species].

Preliminary identification of clinically significant Clostridium spp. is based on evaluating their microscopic and macroscopic morphology, Gram staining (Gram stain-positive structure of the bacterial wall), positive production of lecithinase, lipase and proteolytic activity on egg yolk agar, and simple chemical tests. If this preliminary identification is not sufficient, biochemical identification is performed, along with 16S-rRNA sequencing of the bacterial genome. The article comments on options of preliminary identification of clinically significant Clostridium spp.