Isolation and identification of thermophilic alkalophiles from Kutch region (Gujarat, India): Deinococcus radiophilus and Bacillus drentensis isolates as potential biotechnological agents

The objective of this study was to identify the organisms that were inhabited in soil of Kutch region (Gujarat, India). It was performed to recognize those bacteria which could be used as a potential biotechnological instrument to improve the environment as well as to discover ways in which it could be further developed and used in the future. The study was conducted using three basic techniques. The serial dilution of soil samples followed by spread plate method on the nutrient agar plate was used to obtain the standardized growth distribution of bacteria. At last, partial rRNA sequencing and Sanger sequencing technique were employed to identify the organisms isolated from the culture. Deinococcus radiophilus and Bacillus drentensis have been isolated and identified from this study. Deinococcus radiophilus has a diverse biotechnological significance due to its unique property of resistance to harmful ionizing radiation, and Bacillus drentensis has commercial importance in enzyme production in acidic conditions and also in bioremediation of contaminated groundwater. Thus, both of these identified bacterial species have immense biotechnological applications which can be further explored in future studies.