Aquatic Prokaryotes from Hot Springs of Conghua in Guangdong Province

In order to study the biodiversity and enzymes of prokaryotes from hot springs of Conghua District in Guangdong Province, totally seven hot spring water samples were collected from three geothermal areas in Conghua District. The physicochemical parameters of water samples were measured in the field or laboratory. The high throughput sequencing technology was used to analyze the prokaryote community structure and diversity of hot spring water. Bacteria strains were further isolated and cultivated from the seven hot springs. All the isolated strains were further screened for their cellulase and amylase activities. Results from culture-independent showed that the majority of the prokaryotic microbes in these hot springs were bacteria, and the correlation was the largest between community structure and total carbon content. Through the comparative analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences similarities, a total of 71 bacterial strains were obtained. These strains were distributed in 17 different genera, of which 9 were potential novel taxa. Among these isolates, some strains had cellulase or amylase activity. The results indicated the prokaryotic community was quite diverse in the studied hot springs of Conghua District, and there were a large number of strains with cellulase and amylase activities, which would be useful for further exploration and research.