Characterisation of antibiotic resistance and virulence-associated genes of Paeniclostridium sordellii VIDORCALLUM JAMES 2018 This thesis explores the genes that the bacterial species *Paeniclostridium sordellii* uses to become resistant to antibiotics and cause disease. This work has also identified the process by which this species is able to share the gene that carries a major toxin among its population, thereby increasing the ability of the *Paeniclostridium sordellii* population to cause disease. *SHOULD BE IN ITALICS*