Satpal Singh Bisht
Kumaun University, India
Title: Microbial-diversity of two hot water springs of North-east India
Biography
Biography: Satpal Singh Bisht
Abstract
Bacterial and archaeal diversity of two less known Indian hot springs - Jakrem (Meghalaya) and Yumthang (Sikkim) were studied. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that the bacterial diversity is more than the archaea. Only four Euryarchaeota taxa have been noticed viz. Methanoculleus, Methanosaeta, Methanosarcina and Methanocorpusculum. 13 major bacterial groups were identified from Jakrem hot spring dominated by Firmicutes, Chloroflexi, Thermi whereas Proteobacteria found dominant in Yumthang hot water spring. The dominant taxa recorded are Clostridium, Chloroflexus and Meiothermus at Jakrem hot spring (water temperature 46â°C, pH 9) and Thiobacillus, Sulfuritalea at Yumthang hot spring (water temperature 39â°C, pH 8). These phylogenetic groups were correlated with temperature, total sulfide, sodium, calcium and silicon concentrations of the hot spring water. The presence of sequence reads from bacterial taxa Tepidibacter sp., Ignavibacterium sp., Teribacillus sp., Dechloromonas sp., was a unique and interesting observation as it may represent novel species within these genera. Elstera litoralis, Thiovirga sp., Turneriella sp., were observed for the first time in association with hot springs. The presence of many taxonomically unsolved sequence reads from the metagenome of these hot springs could be a sign of novel microbial diversity of these less known hot water bodies of India.