From nature to clinic: tracking genetic and environmental drivers of Stenotrophomonas maltophilia pathogenicity.

Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, a Gram negative organism, is an emerging infectious agent associated with various nosocomial and life-threatening diseases. Widely distributed across different ecological niches, including soil, water, plant rhizospheres, and hospital settings, it exhibits notable ecological plasticity. S. maltophilia has been traditionally recognized as beneficial for plant growth, bioremediation, and biocontrol. S. maltophilia has increasingly been implicated in life-threatening infections. This shift is driven by factors such as genomic flexibility, a versatile metabolic architecture, and regulatory mechanisms that enhance survival under fluctuating environmental conditions. Despite its dual roles, clear distinctions between environmental, non-clinical, and clinical isolates remain unclear. Recent omics-based approaches, including comparative genomics and transcriptomics, are seeking to understand the hidden molecular mechanisms underlying ecological transitions. This review provides an overview of evolutionary adaptation in S. maltophilia, followed by the factors that enable their persistence across diverse niche transitions and the crucial genetic determinants that drive faster evolution/adaptation.