author(s)
Jaffer YD, R Vinothkumar, Irfan AB, Ishfaq NM, Parvaiz Ahmad Ganie, Raja Adil Hussain Bhat and A Vennila

abstract
In the present study the microbes from the thermal springs of Maharashtra were characterized to reveal the different bacterial groups. Screening and isolation, and their identification by biochemical and molecular methods (16S rRNA sequencing) were the major exercises of this study. The water samples from the three thermal springs Sativali, Nimbavali and Ganeshpuri of Thane, Maharashtra were collected for isolation of microbes and physico-chemical characteristics. The presence of two strains of Bacillus and one of Staphylococcus belonging to the same OTU (Operational Taxonomic Unit) Firmicutes were found in the thermal springs by Sequencing of the 16S rRNA of the isolates followed by BLAST search. This investigation indicates that the thermal springs of Maharashtra, India is a rich source of many thermophilic bacteria. Furthermore, these microbes have potential for producing the extracellular thermostable hydrolytic enzymes having a great commercial prospect in various industrial, medical and agriculture applications.