Abstract

The genus Stenotrophomonas comprises at least eight species. These bacteria are found throughout the environment, particularly in close association with plants. Strains of the most predominant species, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, have an extraordinary range of activities that include beneficial effects for plant growth and health, the breakdown of natural and man-made pollutants that are central to bioremediation and phytoremediation strategies and the production of biomolecules of economic value, as well as detrimental effects, such as multidrug resistance, in human pathogenic strains. Here, we discuss the versatility of the bacteria in the genus Stenotrophomonas and the insight that comparative genomic analysis of clinical and endophytic isolates of S. maltophilia has brought to our understanding of the adaptation of this genus to various niches.

Author affiliations

1. BIOMERIT Research Centre, Department of Microbiology, BioSciences Institute, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
2. Brookhaven National Laboratory, Biology Department, Upton, New York 11973-5000, USA.
3. Institute for Environmental Biotechnology, Graz University of Technology, Graz, Austria.
4. Pathogen Sequencing Unit, The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Hinxton, Cambridge, CB10 1SA, UK.
5. Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of Bristol, School of Medical Sciences, University Walk, Bristol, BS8 1TD, UK.

Correspondence to: Robert P. Ryan¹ Email: r.ryan@ucc.ie

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