ABSTRACT
Hot springs represent a world-spread natural-occurring niche for the development of thermophile microbial communities. Such communities, and specifically their microbiomes, are highly revealing about heat-adaptation mechanisms to sustain life at very high temperatures, constitute a most desirable source for enzymes of industrial interest. The study of microbiomes from hot springs is becoming of great interest because of the specific impact in diverse industrial processes that require high temperatures or improve yields at high temperatures. In the last few years, metagenomics techniques have been increasingly used to study biodiversity, both from a taxonomic and functional perspective, complementing but not completely replacing culture-based techniques. An important attraction of geothermal springs is that they constitute a potential source of microorganisms producers of thermo-tolerant enzymes that can be likely used in industrial applications.
