Although S. maltophilia has been found worldwide in soils,
the link between prevalence and soil characteristics and
anthropogenic constraints has not yet been investigated. For
instance, the presence of S. maltophilia in various water sources
and sewage raises questions about the potential dispersion in
soil through common agricultural practices, i.e. irrigation and
organic amendment and factors driving its survival. To fill in this
knowledge gap, the objectives of this study were: i) to evaluate
the distribution and abundance of S. maltophilia in various
agricultural soils from France and Tunisia; and ii) to characterize
antibiotic resistance profiles of a set of soil- and manureoriginating
isolates and to compare these properties to those of
clinical strains. As several studies reported co-resistance to
antibiotics and metal among clinical and environmental bacteria,
a secondary objective was to evaluate the metal phenotypes
of S. maltophilia in order to better appreciate the role of soil
metal content in selection of antibiotic resistance.