Tarag is a characteristic fermented dairy product with rich microflora (especially lactic acid bacteria), developed by the people of Mongolian nationality in Inner Mongolia of China and Mongolia throughout history. One hundred and ninety-eight samples of Tarag were collected from scattered households in Eastern Inner Mongolia, and total of 790 isolates of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) were isolated by traditional pure culture method. To identify these isolates and analyze their biodiversity, 16S rRNA gene sequences analysis and PCR-DGGE were performed respectively. The results showed that 790 isolates could be classified as 31 species and subspecies. Among these isolates, Lactobacillus helveticus (153 strains, about 19.4%), Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis (132 strains, about 16.7%) and Lactobacillus casei (106 strains, about 11.0%) were considered as the predominated species in the traditional fermented dairy products (Tarag) in Eastern Inner Mongolia. It was shown that the biodiversity of LAB in Tarag in Inner Mongolia was very abundant, and this traditional fermented dairy product could be considered as valuable resources for LAB isolation and probiotic selection.

Bactrian camels may have a unique gastrointestinal (GI) microbiome because of their distinctive digestive systems, unique eating habits and extreme living conditions. However, understanding of the microbial communities in the Bactrian camel GI tract is still limited. In this study, microbial communities were investigated by comparative analyses of 16S rRNA hypervariable region V4 sequences of fecal bacteria sampled from 94 animals in four population groups: Inner Mongolian cattle (IMG-Cattle), Inner Mongolian domestic Bactrian camels (IMG-DBC), Mongolian domestic Bactrian camels (MG-DBC), and Mongolian wild Bactrian camels (MG-WBC). A total of 2,097,985 high-quality reads were obtained and yielded 471,767,607 bases of sequence. Firmicutes was the predominant phylum in the population groups IMG-Cattle, IMG-DBC and MG-WBC, followed (except in the Inner Mongolian cattle) by Verrucomicrobia. Bacteroidetes were abundant in the IMG-DBC and MG-WBC populations. Hierarchical clustered heatmap analysis revealed that the microbial community composition within the three Bactrian camel groups was relatively similar, and somewhat distinct from that in the cattle. A similar result was determined by principal component analysis, in which the camels grouped together. We also found several species-specific differences in microbial communities at the genus level: for example, Desulfovibrio was abundant in the IMG-DBC and MG-WBC groups; Pseudomonas was abundant in the IMG-Cattle group; and Fibrobacter, Coprobacillus, and Paludibacter were scarce in the MG-WBC group. Such differences may be related to different eating habits and living conditions of the cattle and the various camel populations.