STENOTROPHOMONAS MALTOPHILIA: A MULTIPLE DRUGS RESISTANT BACTERIUM TO A POTENTIAL HERBICIDE DEGRADING BACTERIUMCHONG SENG SHITAbstract Stenotrophomonas maltophilia: a multiple drug resistant bacterium to a potential herbicide degrading bacterium. As a top ten most common isolated nosocomial pathogens in tertiary hospital, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia gains attention due to its intrinsically multiple drugs resistance characteristic. It shows wide range of antimicrobial resistance including beta-lactams, cephalosporins, carbapenems, aminoglycosides, and quinolones. Mechanisms involved in drugs resistance are due to its low permeability cell membrane, presence of efflux pumps, and production of antibiotics hydrolyzing enzymes. Majority of the work published focused to the antimicrobial resistance and pathogenesis of S. maltophilia. Despite that, the agricultural economic value of S. maltophilia and its application in agricultural biotechnology are emphasized in this report. This bacterium is found to live naturally in the rhizosphere of crops. Thus, herbicides exposure is inevitable since the chemicals are applied by farmers to assist the crops yield by removing the unwanted weeds. Interestingly, the antimicrobial resistance properties of this bacterium as mentioned above may play an important role to enable it to survive under such high toxic environment. Capability of S. maltophilia to degrade herbicides such as dicamba, atrazine, and DDT was reported. As a result, dicamba mono-oxygenase (dmo) gene in S. maltophilia was characterized and cloned to develop crops with dicamba-tolerant property. Invention of dicamba-tolerant crops could ease the producer in weeds management and to increase the crops yield as well. This review is an attempt to highlight the potential value of S. maltophilia in removing the herbicide residue.
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