Hot springs are natural environments where hot groundwater comes out from the earth. Exploring the microbial diversity present in hot springs is important first to determine the microorganisms able to proliferate there and to understand their role in biogeochemical cycles. In Algeria, research concerning microbial populations in those ecosystems is limited. This study describes bacterial and archaeal diversity of the ‘Hammam Essalihine’ hot spring in Khenchela province in north-east Algeria using a culture-independent approach. This is the first microbial diversity investigation in the ‘Hammam Essalihine’ hot spring using next-generation sequencing techniques to assess the species classification of thermophilic microorganisms. Genomic DNA was extracted from water samples and the V4–V5 region of 16S rRNA gene were amplified, sequenced, and analyzed. The average temperature of water varies from 68 to 70 °C. High-throughput sequencing analysis revealed the presence of 21 bacterial phyla, including an unknown phylum and distributed across 42 families and 39 genera. The majority of the sequences were observed to belong to the kingdom Bacteria. The bacterial community from this hot spring is dominated by Proteobacteria (41.52%), Chloroflexi (7.62%), and Bacteroidetes (7.62%), whereas the community of Archaea is scarcely present in the study site and the two identified operational taxonomic units (OTUs) are far from what is known in the GenBank database. The study shows several uncharacterized sequences, indicating that the water of ‘Hammam Essalihine’ hot spring contains undescribed microorganisms. This study is thought to add to the understanding of thermophile diversity and ecology of ‘Hammam Essalihine’ hot spring.

温泉是从地下流出热水的自然环境。首先，探索温泉中存在的微生物多样性对于确定能够在那里繁殖的微生物并了解其在生物地球化学循环中的作用非常重要。在阿尔及利亚，有关这些生态系统中微生物种群的研究有限。这项研究使用独立于文化的方法描述了阿尔及利亚东北部Khenchela省“ Hammam Essalihine”温泉的细菌和古细菌多样性。这是在“哈马姆埃萨利因”温泉中进行的首次微生物多样性调查，使用下一代测序技术来评估嗜热微生物的种类。从水样和16S rRNA的V4-V5区域提取基因组DNA对基因进行扩增，测序和分析。水的平均温度在68至70°C之间。高通量测序分析显示存在21个细菌门，包括不明门，分布在42个科和39个属中。观察到大多数序列属于细菌界。来自这个温泉的细菌群落主要由变形杆菌（41.52％），绿弯曲菌（7.62％）和拟杆菌属（7.62％）主导，而研究地点和两个确定的操作分类单位（OTUs）几乎不存在古细菌群落。）与GenBank数据库中已知的信息相去甚远。研究显示了几个未知的序列，表明“土耳其浴室Essalihine的温泉中含有未描述的微生物。该研究被认为增加了对“ Hammam Essalihine ”温泉嗜热菌多样性和生态学的理解。