In this study,the amylase activities of 76 halophilic and halotolerant bacteria isolated from the sandy soil samples collected from the Tianmo Desert in Zhangjiakou City,Hebei Province,China,were studied by using the plate hydrolysis spot method.The results showed that the amylase activities of 34 out of the 76 (44.7%) strains tested were observed,in which 6 strains showed relatively strong amylase activities.Then these 34 strains were submitted for 16S rRNA gene amplification and phylogenetic analysis,and the results suggested that the 34 amylase-positive strains represented 18 species,being members of 8 genera (Streptomyces,Bacillus,Gracilibacillus,Halobacillus,Oceanobacillus,Piscibacillus,Thalassobacillus,Virgibacillus) of 2 families (Streptomycetaceae,Bacillaceae) in 2 phyla (Actinobacteria,Firmicutes) of the domain Bacteria.The results also suggested that the 6 strongly amylase-positive strains all belonged to the family Bacillaceae of the phylum Firmicutes and were members of 3 genera:strains JSM 1684012,JSM 1684041 and JSM 1685098 belonged to the genus Bacillus,and strains JSM 1684067 and JSM 1685082 belonged to the genus Gracilibacillus,and strain JSM 1685081 belonged to the genus Halobacillus.In conclusion,the results presented above showed that there are a number of amylase-producing strains in halophilic and halotolerant bacteria isolated from sandy soil samples collected from the Tianmo Desert in Zhangjiakou City,Hebei Province,China,and the amylase-positive strains show abundant phylogenetic biodiversity.