Accepted Article This article has been accepted for publication and undergone full peer review but has not been through the copyediting, typesetting, pagination and proofreading process, which may lead to differences between this version and the Version of Record. Please cite this article as doi: 10.1111/jam.14293 This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. DR. SHANTHI C (Orcid ID : 0000-0002-3572-2738) Article type : Original Article Protein Profiling of Metal Resistant Bacillus cereus VITSH1 C. Shiny Matilda, Sheethal Thomas Mannully, Rao P. Viditha, C. Shanthi* School of Bio Sciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore-632014, India. Running Head: Metal Resistance in Bacteria *Correspondence C. Shanthi, School of Bio Sciences and Technology, Vellore Institute of Technology, Vellore-632014, India. E-mail: cshanthi@vit.ac.in Abstract Aims: The aim of the study is to investigate the proteomic changes and antioxidant enzyme activity in chromium resistant Bacillus cereus VITSH1 in response to heavy metal toxicity. Methods and Results: The variation in protein expression and antioxidant enzyme activity in the presence and absence of metal was studied in Bacillus cereus VITSH1. The differentially expressed proteins in chromium treated conditions were determined by SDS PAGE. The proteins involved in metal binding, protein biosynthesis, protein folding, energy metabolism and motility were identified by mass spectrometry coupled with bioinformatics search tools. The in gel assays for antioxidant enzymes indicated a change in their activity under metal stress conditions. Conclusions: The findings of the present study suggest that the organism combats metal stress probably by restricting the entry of metal inside the cell. The role of the differentially expressed proteins clearly indicates that the first line of defense is to avoid the entry of metal