Thermophilic Bacilli Isolated from Armenian Geothermal Springs and their Potential for Production of Hydrolytic Enzymes

The isolation and identification based on phenotypic and phylogenetic characteristics of the thermophilic bacteria from different geothermal springs (with temperature 27.5a？？70 ？°C) distributed on the territory of Armenia and Nagorno Karabakh were carried out. In total 135 thermophilic and thermotolerant bacilli strains were isolated under aerobic conditions at 55-65 ？°C and indentified based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis as representatives of genera Anoxybacillus, Bacillus, Brevibacillus, Geobacillus, Paenibacillus, Sporosarcina, Ureibacillus and Thermoactinomyces. These thermophilic bacilli were tested for enzyme production capacities such as lipase, protease, amylases and biotechnologically valuable enzyme producers were selected