Most antibiotics are derived from the soil, but their catabolism there, which is necessary to close the antibiotic carbon cycle, remains uncharacterized. We report the first draft genome sequences of soil Proteobacteria identified for subsisting solely on β-lactams as their carbon sources. The genomes encode multiple β-lactamases, although their antibiotic catabolic pathways remain enigmatic.
Copyright © 2017 Crofts et al.