The screening of bacteria and archaea from Chott El Jerid, a hypersaline lake in the south of Tunisia, led to the isolation of 68 extremely halophilic prokaryotes growing in media with 15-25% of salt. Assessment of 68 partial 16S rRNA analyzed by amplified rDNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) revealed 15 different bacterial and archaeal taxonomic groups. Based on ARDRA results, phenotypic and hydrolytic activity tests, 20 archaeal and 6 bacterial isolates were selected for sequencing. The halophilic isolates were identified as members of the genera: Salicola, Bacillus, Halorubrum, Natrinema and Haloterrigena. Most of these isolates are able to produce hydrolytic enzymes such as amylase, protease, lipase, cellulase, xylanase, pectinase and some of them showed combined activities. Natrinema genus is an excellent candidate for lipase production. These results indicated that the extremely halophilic archaea and bacteria from Chott El Jerid are a potential source of hydrolytic enzymes and may possess commercial value.

Chott El Jerid is the largest hypersaline ephemeral lake in southern Tunisian Sahara desert and is one of the biggest depressions at the North of Africa. This study aimed to investigate the diversity and abundance of microbial communities inhabiting Chott El Jerid during wet season (when it was flooded), using molecular methods [Illumina Miseq sequencing, DGGE and qPCR (qPCR)]. 16S rRNA gene analyses revealed that bacterial community was dominated by Proteobacteria (especially Ralstonia species), followed by Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, Cyanobacteria, Actinobacteria and Verrucomicrobia. The results obtained using prokaryotic universal primers showed low relative abundance of Archaea dominated by few OTUs related to Methanosarcinaceae and Methanomassiliicoccaceae families and the presence of sulfate-reducing Archaea affiliated with Archaeoglobus. However, the results obtained using Archaea-specific primers showed that archaeal community was mainly composed of aerobic Halobacteria (especially Halorubrum species) and anaerobic members of Methanomicrobia. These results also provided evidence for the presence of members of the genus Halohasta in this environment. qPCR results revealed that Archaea were more abundant in studied samples than Bacteria. The sulfate-reducing Bacteria were also found abundant (~ one-third of the bacterial community) and outnumbered methanogens, suggesting their potential important role in this sulfate-rich and hypersaline ecosystem.

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