Analysis of Archaeal Diversity in Three Samples from Danquan Distillery

Archaeal communities from high temperature Daqu (HTD) and stillage are very vital for the production of Maotai-flavor liquor, for instance Danquan liquor. As an agent for saccharification and fermentation, Daqu severely influences the flavour of liquor. But archaeal compositions in three samples derived from Danquan company (dqjq_ck/dqjqcp/dqjp3) are indistinct at present, thereby hindering further improvement of Danquan liquor. The “dqjq_ck”/“dqjqcp” represent HTD at 45 d/135 d. The “dqjp3” represents stillage. In this paper, the archaeal compositions in three samples were demonstrated by amplicon sequencing. The archaeal compositions in all samples mainly included methanogenic archaea. The most abundant archaeal species were unclassified_Thaumarchaeota, Methanobrevibacter and Methanothrix in dqjq_ck/dqjqcp/dqjp3. The main archaea included Methanothrix, Methanobrevibacter, Methanobacterium, Nitrososphaera, Methanoregula, unclassified_Thaumarchaeota and unclassified_Methanoregulaceae in three samples. The archaeal succession (changes in the composition of archaea) in three sample types was clarified. This study will lay base for screening some excellent indigenous archaea and constructing its genetic engineering microbes to enhance the character of Danquan liquor.