[Community Structure and Succession of Methanogens in Beishenshu Landfill, Beijing]

Methanogens are the key microorganisms for landfill stabilization. RT-PCR and qPCR detecting system were employed to determine the types and abundance of methanogens in 2-15 year-old solid wastes that sampled from Beishenshu Landfill, Beijing. The organic components were almost stable and the pH values were in alkaline range, which indicated that the landfill was in the methanogenic process. Methanobacterials, Methanosaeta, and Methanosarcina were detected, among which Methanosaeta and Methanosarcina are acetoclastic, and Methanobacterials are hydrogenotrophic. As landfill processing, within this time range, although the bacterial abundance was significantly decreased, the amount of methanogens was first increased and then decreased, and finally became stable after being landfilled for 9 years. Methanosarcina was the dominate taxa. Significant correlations were found between the methanogens and the volatile fatty acids, but the correlations between methanogens and larger molecular organic matters were relatively weak or even absent. Taken together, our study revealed that the amount of methanogens were affected by substrates, but hardly influenced by the conversion of large molecules in these wastes landfilled for more than 2 years.