Abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the bacterial diversity and its influencing factors in bottom pit mud from artificial cellars used for the production of Maotai-flavor liquor. A high-throughput sequencing technique was used to analyze the bacterial diversity of four pit mud samples from different liquor producing regions and its correlations with physicochemical factors. The results showed that there was a significant difference in physicochemical characteristics and bacterial community among bottom pit muds from different regions and the longer the geographic distance was, the greater the difference in bacterial community structure was, the greater in differences was. Cluster analysis showed that the bacterial community structure of bottom pit muds from Erlang, Xijiu and Maotai, which were closer to each other, was similar, with Aminicenantes, Chloroflexi, and Proteobacteria being predominant. However, the bacterial flora of bottom pit mud from a liquor producer in Luzhou was dominated by Firmicutes, which was significantly different from that of bottom pit mud from the above three regions. Correlation analysis showed that available K, pH, and moisture content were the main factors that had significant effects on the structure and diversity of bacterial community in bottom pit muds, especially for Aminicenantes, Firmicutes, Actinobacteria, and Armatimonadetes.

Key words: high-throughput sequencing, bacterial diversity, Maotai-flavor liquor