Genomic diversity of the genus Stenotrophomonas

The clinical and environmental importance of Stenotrophomonas bacteria requ ires thorough, molecular studies on their epidemiology and taxonomy. In ord er to obtain a complete genomic profile of this genus, over 100 Stenotropho monas maltophilia strains from various origins were investigated by AFLP fi ngerprinting. A subset of these strains was analysed by DNA hybridization a nd 16S rDNA sequencing. In contrast to their high phenotypic homogeneity, t he strains were found to be very heterogeneous genotypically by AFLP finger printing. Nevertheless, ten cores of highly similar strains representing te n genomic groups were observed. The same groups could be retrieved by DNA h ybridizations and also, partly, by 16S rDNA sequence analysis. The intergro up DNA similarities were too high to create confident species delineations, neither could the genomic groups be characterized by phenotypic features.