increasing dietary trehalose intake. genome genomic informationncbi genome id535ploidyhaploidgenome size4.3 mbnumber of chromosomes1year of completion2005 the first complete genome sequence of a c. difficile strain was published in 2005 by sanger institute in the uk. this was of the strain 630, a virulent and multiple drug-resistant strain isolated in switzerland in 1982. scientists at sanger institute have sequenced genomes of about 30 c. difficile isolates using next-generation sequencing technologies from 454 life sciences and illumina. researchers at mcgill university in montreal sequenced the genome of the highly virulent quebec strain of c. difficile in 2005 using ultra-high throughput sequencing technology. the tests involved doing 400,000 dna parallel-sequencing reactions of the bacterium's genome, which had been fragmented for sequencing. these sequences were assembled computationally to form a complete genome sequence. in 2012, scientists at university of oxford sequenced c. difficile genomes from 486 cases arising over four years in oxfordshire using next-generation sequencing technologies from illumina. epigenome clostridioides difficile has a highly diverse epigenome, with 17 high-quality methylation motifs reported so far, the majority pertaining to the 6ma type. methylation at one of these motifs - caaaaa, was shown to impact sporulation, a key step in c. difficile disease transmission, as well as cell length, biofilm formation, and host colonization. bacteriophage at least eight mainly temperate bacteriophages have been isolated from c. difficile, ranging in genome size from about 30 to about 60 kbp. both environmentally and clinically derived c. difficile strains carry a diverse and prevalent set of prophages. etymology and pronunciation see clostridioides difficile infection § etymology and pronunciation.