<P> Clostridium difficile (etymology and pronunciation), also known as C. difficile, C. diff (/ siː dɪf /), or sometimes CDF / cdf, is a species of Gram - positive spore - forming bacterium . </P> <P> Clostridia (members of the genus Clostridium and of the Clostridiaceae family) are anaerobic, motile bacteria, ubiquitous in nature, and especially prevalent in soil . Its vegetative cells are rod shaped, pleomorphic, and occur in pairs or short chains . Under the microscope, they appear as long, irregular (often drumstick - or spindle - shaped) cells with a bulge at their terminal ends (forms subterminal spores). Under Gram staining, C. difficile cells are Gram - positive and show optimum growth on blood agar at human body temperatures in the absence of oxygen . C. difficile is catalase and superoxide dismutase negative, and produces two types of toxins: enterotoxin A and cytotoxin B, which disrupts cytoskeleton signal transductions in the host . When stressed, the bacteria produce spores that are able to tolerate extreme conditions that the active bacteria cannot tolerate . </P> <P> C. difficile may become established in the human colon; it is present in 2--5% of the adult population . Sometimes antibiotic therapy for various infections has the adverse effect of disrupting the normal balance of the gut microbiota, in which case C. difficile may opportunistically dominate, causing Clostridium difficile infection . </P> <P> This species has been officially renamed, in 2016, to Clostridioides difficile . This new name reflects the taxonomic differences between this species and other members of the Clostridium genus, while maintaining the common name as C. diff . Currently, the only other species in this new Clostridioides genus is Clostridioides mangenotii (formerly known as Clostridium mangenotii). </P>

Where is c diff located in the body