A culture-dependent survey of thermophilic bacteria from hot springs in Xiamen area in China

Microbes are believed to play important roles in ecosystem function in many environments. The hot springs of Xiamen Island are close to the Xiamen Sea, and may have some characteristics different from those of inland hot springs. Microbes living in the hot springs of Xiamen may have new characteristics. However, little is known about microbial communities of hot springs close to the Xiamen Sea. A culture-dependent survey of microbial population in the Xiamen hot springs was performed by using an approach combining total cellular protein profile identification and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. A total of 328 isolates of bacteria were obtained from liquid and sediment samples from the Xiamen hot springs, including neutrophilic thermophilic bacteria and moderately thermophilic acidophiles. Neutrophilic thermophilic bacteria, which grow at a temperature range of 55-90℃ including Rhodothermus marinus (Strain 1), Thermus thermophilus (Strain 2), Thermus thiopara (Strain 3), Geobacillus stearothermophilus (Strain 4), Geobacillus thermoleovorans (Strain 5), and Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes (Strain 6), were recovered by 2216E plates. Moderately thermophilic acidophiles, which can grow at temperatures above 50℃ and a pH range of 1.8-3.5 such as Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris (Strain 8), Sul-f obacillus acidophilus (Strain 9), and Sulf obacillus thermosulf idooxidans (Strain 10), were isolated on selective solid medium containing sulfur and Fe²⁺. Among these strains, Rhodothermus marinus, Thermus thermophilus and Geobacillus stearothermophilus are not only thermophiles, but also halophiles. One bacterium strain (Strain 6) shared 99% nucleotide sequence homology with Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes on the 16S rRNA gene se-quence, but was quite different from Pseudomonas pseudoalcaligenes in biological characteristics, suggesting that it may represent a novel thermophilic species. Results indicated that various species of neutrophilic thermophiles and moderately thermophilic acidophiles were widely distributed in the Xiamen hot springs and that Rhodothermus marinus and Thermus thermophilus dominated the cultivable microbial community.