Isolation and Preliminary Molecular Characterization of Novel Anaerobic Microbial Species from the Interface Between Zaopei (Fermented Grains) and the Bottom Pit Mud

Abstract

Abstract. Strong-aroma type liquor occupies over 70% of Chinese liquor market, but the namelist of key microbes responsible for liquor flavor is still vague. Lots of data indicate that the interface between the bottom pit mud and Zaopei (fermented grains) plays an important role for aroma molecule production, so isolation and characterization of anaerobic microbial species from the interface is of great importance. In this study, a specific culturing medium was prepared with the bottom pit mud and Zaopei materials to isolate over a hundred colonies, some of which were characterized mainly as Clostridia and Lactobacillus microbes using the full-length 16S rDNA sequencing; but not all of them can be classified into species at high confidence levels, suggestive of novel anaerobic species.