Genomic diversity of human Clostridium innocuum

This project sought to characterize Clostridium innocuum genomic diversity. Morphologically distinct C. innocuum strains were isolated from human feces collected from healthy individuals (n=5). Isolates were streaked to purity, taxonomically identified using 16S rRNA Sanger sequencing, and isolated genomic DNA was sequenced using Illumina technology. Genomic diversity within these strains (n=38) and publicly available C. innocuum genomes (n=75) were compared using single nucleotide polymorphisms in core genes and average nucleotide identity, which identified distinct clades. Strains within the four clades displayed distinct genomic features, as compared using KEGG, COG, CAzyme, and PathoFact.