Actinobacterial Diversity in Microbial Mats of Five Hot Springs in Central and Central-Eastern Tibet, China

The diversity and community composition of Actinobacteria in microbial mats of five Tibetan hot springs (temperatures 26 degrees C to 81 degrees C) and a sympatric soil were investigated with 16S rRNA gene phylogentic analysis. A total of 278 clones were obtained. The actinobacterial communities in the Tibetan hot springs were diverse, and most of the retrieved clones were affiliated with Actinobacteridae, Acidimicrobidae, and unclassified Actinobacteria. The Actinobacteridae sequences were distributed into seven suborders (e.g., Frankineae, Corynebacterineae, Micromonosporineae, Pseudonocardineae, Propionibacterineae, Micrococcineae, and Actinomycineae) and unclassified Actinobacteridae. The actinobacterial composition varied among different hot springs. Statistical analysis showed that the actinobacterial diversity in the investigated Tibetan hot springs was not significantly correlated with temperature, suggesting that temperature is not a key factor in shaping the actinobacterial diversity in hot springs.