Insights from the genome sequence of Bacillus tropicus EMB20, an efficient ß-lactamase-producing bacterium.

We report here the whole-genome sequence of ß-lactamase-producing bacteria Bacillus tropicus EMB20. The genome sequence of Bacillus tropicus EMB20 has a size of 5.8 Mb (G + C content of 35.52%) with 5593 coding DNA sequences (CDSs), 108 tRNA, and 14 rRNA operons. The bacterium has the unique ability to produce a ß-lactamase enzyme with high activity. ß-Lactamases are one of the most common causes of antimicrobial resistance as these enzymes inactivate almost all ß-lactam antibiotics. The antibiotic susceptibility test showed that the B. tropicus EMB20 is producing ß-lactamase and can degrade the ß-lactam antibiotics. Further, the antibiotic degradation potential of this bacteria was confirmed by growing the bacteria in the presence of varying concentrations of ß-lactam antibiotic, amoxicillin. The bacteria were able to hydrolyze amoxicillin up to 50 mg/L in 4 h. Furthermore, the analyses of the genome revealed the presence of multiple ß-lactamase genes, possibly involved in antibiotic degradation. The availability of the genome sequence will provide further insights into the mechanism of antimicrobial resistance by ß-lactamase-producing bacteria. Supplementary Information: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13205-022-03395-w.