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Abstract

Extremophiles produce diverse enzymes suitable for industrial applications. In the current research, isolation and characterization of an extremophile from Mahiwal hot water springs of Balochistan, Pakistan has been reported. The isolated extremophilic bacterial strain, MAS2, is aerobic and rod shaped. It is 1 µm wide and 5 µm long. It forms cream colored round and slimy colonies. The strain can grow between 40 to 75 °C with an optimum growth temperature of 65 °C and an optimal pH of 6.5. The strain can grow by utilizing various sugars, hydrocarbons and carboxylic acids as sole carbon source. No additional salt is required for the growth, though relatively higher growth was observed in the presence of 0.5% NaCl. The strain MAS2 is capable of producing several industrially important extracellular enzymes including an amylase, a hydrolase, an oxidase and a protease. Complete16S rRNA sequence of the strain exhibited high homology to various strains of genus Geobacillus. The highest homology of 98.66% was found with Geobacillus kaustophilus. However, the biochemical characteristics were similar to Geobacillus thermopakistaniensis and Geobacillus uzenensis. These results indicate that strain MAS2 represents a new species of genus Geobacillus, which we designate as Geobacillus thermoloralaiensis MAS2 sp. nov.

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