Isolation and characterization of thermophilic methanogenic bacteria from mushroom compost

During the first stage of the preparation of mushroom compost oxygen is believed to be readily available. However we measured methane in the evoking air above the compost piles and were able to isolate thermophilic methanogenic bacteria from this compost. The isolates grow only on H2 and CO2 as energy and carbon source and do not require complex factors for growth. On the basis of nutritional and morphological characteristics these methanogens were identified as strains of Methanobacterium thermoautotrophicum.