Cellulose, the most abundant polysaccharide in nature, is a rich source of renewable energy and sustains soil nutrients. Among the microorganisms known to degrade cellulose, bacteria are less studied compared to fungi. In the present work, we have investigated the culturable bacteria actively involved in cellulose degradation in forest and crop field soils. Based on clear zone formation and enzyme activity assay, we identified 7 bacterial strains positive for cellulose degradation. Of these, two most efficient strains (Bacillus cereus strains BHU1 and BHU2) were selected for whole genome sequencing, annotation, and information regarding GC content, number of genes, total subsystems, starch, and cellulose degradation pathways. Average nucleotide identity (ANI) showed more than 90% similarity between both the strains (BHU1 and BHU2) and with B. cereus ATCC 14579. Both the strains have genes and enzyme families like endoglucanase and β-glucosidase as evident from whole genome sequence. Cellulase containing gene families (GH5, GH8, GH1), and many other carbohydrate-degrading enzymes, were present in both the bacterial strains. Taken together, the results suggest that the strains were efficient in cellulose degradation, and can be used for energy generation and production of value-added product.

中文翻译：

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从头进行的基因组组装和比较注释揭示了农田和森林土壤中纤维素分解细菌的代谢多样性。

纤维素是自然界中最丰富的多糖，是丰富的可再生能源，并维持土壤养分。在已知能降解纤维素的微生物中，与真菌相比，对细菌的研究较少。在目前的工作中，我们调查了活跃在森林和农田土壤中纤维素降解中的可培养细菌。基于清晰的区域形成和酶活性测定，我们确定了7种对纤维素降解呈阳性的细菌菌株。其中，两种最有效的菌株（蜡状芽孢杆菌选择菌株BHU1和BHU2）进行全基因组测序，注释和有关GC含量，基因数，总子系统，淀粉和纤维素降解途径的信息。在两个菌株（BHU1和BHU2）与蜡状芽孢杆菌ATCC 14579之间，平均核苷酸同一性（ANI）显示出90％以上的相似性。从全基因组序列中可以看出，这两个菌株均具有内切葡聚糖酶和β-葡萄糖苷酶等基因和酶家族。在两种细菌菌株中均存在含有纤维素酶的基因家族（GH5，GH8，GH1）和许多其他降解碳水化合物的酶。两者合计，结果表明该菌株在纤维素降解方面是有效的，并且可以用于能量产生和增值产品的生产。