Identification of dominant microbes from traditional Chinese medicine Pinelliae Rhizoma Fermentata

To investigate the microbial species, amount changes as well as the isolation and identification of domain strains at different fermentation time points of Pinelliae Rhizoma Fermentata, and provide basis for exploring the mechanism of Pinelliae Rhizoma Fermentata processing. Five samples were chosen at the time points (0, 18, 36, 54, 72 h) of Pinelliae Rhizoma Fermentata processing. Bacteria, mold and yeast from the samples were cultured; their colonies were counted, and the dominant strains were isolated and purified. The dominant bacteria and dominant fungi were identified by 16S rDNA and 26S rDNA sequencing respectively. The results showed that the bacteria count was low with slow and smooth changes in the fermentation process;while mold and yeast grew dramatically after 54 h culturing and reached 1×107 CFU•mL⁻¹ at the end of fermentation. Through the NCBI homology alignment and phylogenetic tree construction, the dominant bacteria were identified as Streptomyces sp., Bacillus pumilus, B. subtilis, B. aryabhattai and other Bacillus sp.; the dominant yeast was identified as Meyerozyma guilliermondii; the dominant mold were identified as Paecilomyces variotii, Byssochlamys spectabilis, and Aspergillus niger in the processing of Pinelliae Rhizoma Fermentata. The results indicated that multiple microbe species, especially yeast and mold, played a role in the fermentation processing of Pinelliae Rhizoma Fermentata. M. guilliermondii, P. variotii, P. variotii and A. niger and Bacillus sp. can be the crucial factors in the processing of Pinelliae Rhizoma Fermentata.