Bacterial diversity of soil samples from the western Himalayas, India.

High-altitude cold habitats of the Himalayas are little explored with respect to bacterial diversity. Diverse bacterial species and phylotypes obtained by culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches are reported here. Phylogenetic analysis and modulation of bacterial diversity with altitude and available organic carbon content are also described. Psychrophilic and psychrotolerant bacteria dominated the Himalayan habitats, accounting for 60% of the cultivated strains. Isolates produced one or more (up to five) hydrolytic enzymes, lipase being the one secreted by most strains (62%). Partial 16S rRNA gene sequences were obtained for 99 bacterial strains and 74 clones obtained from soil samples from the western Himalayas. Forty-five percent of cultured bacterial strains belonged to the Proteobacteria group with 39% belonging to gamma-Proteobacteria. Firmicutes was the second most abundant class with 32% of the total isolates followed by Actinobacteria (16%) and Bacteroidetes (6%). Most of the strains belonged to the genus Bacillus (30%) followed by Pseudomonas (24%) and Arthrobacter (12%). In culture-independent studies, phylotypes belonging to the Proteobacteria were dominant (73%) with the majority being beta-Proteobacteria (31%). The bacterial diversity exhibited an altitude gradient with a gradual decline in the number of genera with increase in altitude. The isolates exhibited close phylogenetic affinities to bacteria from other cold habitats.