Acinetobacter—the bad, the ugly, but also the good!

TL;DR

The paper explores the Acinetobacter genus, highlighting its role as both a harmful pathogen and a beneficial organism for some plants.

Contribution

The study demonstrates how metagenome-assembled genomes can reveal functional roles of Acinetobacter species in specific environments.

Findings

Acinetobacter calcoaceticus can significantly impact tomato plants.

Metagenome-assembled genomes help identify and understand bacterial species in their environments.

Acinetobacter species show functional specialization depending on their host or environment.

Abstract

The genus Acinetobacter is vast and diverse regarding its hosts. However, it is best known as an opportunistic pathogen that causes hard-to-treat nosocomial infections. Yet, some species of the genus can be beneficial for some hosts. Such is the case of Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, which can have a significant impact on tomato plants, as was recently shown in a paper by Robertson et al. (S. Robertson, A. Mosca, S. Ashraf, A. Corral, et al., mSphere 11:e00842-25, 2026, https://doi.org/10.1128/msphere.00842-25). Importantly, that study also exemplifies how metagenomics in general, but metagenome-assembled genomes in particular, can be employed to understand the functional specialization and identity of the bacterial species dwelling in particular environments.