relies on carbon metabolism to adapt to agricultural environments.

, a foodborne and human pathogen, is a constant threat to human health. Agricultural environments, for example, soil and plants, can be ecological niches and vectors for transmission. persistence in such environments increases the risk for consumers. Therefore, it is necessary to investigate the mechanisms used by to adapt to agricultural environments. We assessed the adaptation strategy of serovar Typhimurium strain 14028s to agricultural-relevant situations by analyzing the abundance of intermediates in glycolysis and the tricarboxylic acid pathway in tested environments (diluvial sand soil suspension and leaf-based media from tomato and lettuce), as well as in bacterial cells grown in such conditions. By reanalyzing the transcriptome data of grown in those environments and using an independent RT-qPCR approach for verification, several genes were identified as important for persistence in root or leaf tissues, including the pyruvate dehydrogenase subunit E1 encoding gene . persistence assay in tomato leaves confirmed the crucial role of . A mutant in another tomato leaf persistence-related gene, , encoding malate synthase A, displayed opposite persistence features. By comparing the metabolites and gene expression of the wild-type strain and its mutant, fumarate accumulation was discovered as a potential way to replenish the effects of the mutation. Our research interprets the mechanism of adaptation to agriculture by adapting its carbon metabolism to the carbon sources available in the environment. These insights may assist in the development of strategies aimed at diminishing persistence in food production systems.