Clostridium Botulinum

Clostridium botulinum is a Gram-positive, anaerobic, rod-shaped bacterium found in soil and in the intestines of mammals and fish. It is the causative agent of botulism, a life-threatening type of food poisoning caused by the neurotoxin botulinum toxin, which is the most poisonous naturally-occurring substance known. Botulinum toxin can be used in small doses as a therapeutic tool in medical treatments such as wrinkle reduction, facial twitch reduction, and treatment of some muscular diseases. Additionally, botulinum toxin is used in research as it can be used to study the effects of neurotoxins on neuronal function, as well as in the development of novel therapeutics for neurological diseases.