Abstract:In order to enrich the strain resource, the bacterial diversity of milk and the biochemical characteristics of strains, lactic acid bacteria(LAB) of four naturally fermented camel milk samples from Laayoune, Morocco, were isolated and identified using the traditional pure culture method and metagenomic 16S rRNA gene sequencing technology. Meanwhile, the diversity of the bacterial metagenomic sequencing and the biochemical characteristics of strains were researched. The results showed that all the samples contained 82 LAB strains belonging to 3 genera and 8 species, of which 58.54% was Lactococcus lactis. According to the metagenomic sequencing results, the bacteria isolated from the four naturally fermented camel milk samples belonged to 7 phyla, 78 genera, and 147 species. Proteobacteria(54.64%) and Firmicutes(41.77%) were the dominant phyla in the samples, with Lactococcus(31.87%) and Lactococcus lactis (22.95%) accounting for the higher percentages, being the dominant species and genus in the samples. By comparing the growth situation and acid production rate of different LAB, the LAB with high growth rate and high acid production rate were screened out from the 48 strains of Lactococcus lactis, which were IMAU98054 and IMAU98084. The results showed that the optimal growth temperature of the 2 strains was 37℃, and the pH was 5.5-7.5. Moreover, the 2 strains had certain salt tolerance, and their growth wasn’t significantly inhibited when the NaCl concentration was less than 6%. When the strains were fermented at 37℃ for 18 h, the OD600 could reach 2.5218 and 2.5172, respectively. Natural fermented camel milk collected in Laayoune, Morocco, contained a variety of bacteria, of which Lactococcus lactis was the dominant strain, and 2 strains (IMAU98054 and IMAU98084), which had rapid growth rate and high acid production rate, had been screened out.