Abstract: High-throughput pyrosequencing and the traditional culture method were used in this study to analyze the microbial community diversity in four samples of traditional fermented milk collected from south Xinjiang. Results showed that there were differences in the number and species of microbes isolated from the four samples when they were cultured on three media, i.e., MRS, YGC and Lee media. A total of 20 669 effective bacterial and 293 677 effective fungal sequences were obtained after quality control. Firmicutes was the dominant bacterial phylum in all samples with the highest abundance followed by Proteobacteri; Lactobacillus and Streptococcus were found to the dominant genera in the Firmicutes phylum. Ascomycota was the dominant fungal phylum followed by Basidiomycota; the genera Saccharomyces and Kluyveromyces were the dominant fungi belonging to the Ascomycota phylum. The results of this study can provide the basis for the exploitation and utilization of microbial resources in traditional fermented milk in Xinjiang.

Key words: fermented milk, high-throughput pyrosequencing, microbial diversity