A taxonomic study was performed on 15 bacterial isolates from the caeca of gnotobiotic mice that had been fed with thermophile-fermented compost. The 15 isolates were thermophilic, Gram-stain-positive, facultatively anaerobic, endospore-forming bacteria, and were most closely related to Bacillus thermoamylovorans CNCM I-1378 T isolate. All 15 isolates grew at 25-60 8C (optimum 50 8C), pH 6-8 (optimum pH 7) and were capable of growing on a medium containing 6 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum 0.5 %). The 15 isolates could be distinguished from B. thermoamylovorans LMG 18084 T because they showed Tween 80 hydrolysis activity and did not produce acid from melibiose. The major fatty acids were anteiso-C 15 : 0 , C 16 : 0 , iso-C 15 : 0 , iso-C 14 : 0 and iso-C 16 : 0 . The major polar lipids were diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylglycerol and several unidentified phospholipids. The diagnostic diamino acid in the cell-wall peptidoglycan was meso-diaminopimelic acid. The menaquinone was MK-7.