Extended Data Fig. 1: Molecular characterization of the methanogenic oily sludge incubated at different temperatures.

a, Accumulation of methane in the headspace of treatments at different temperatures over an incubation time of 301 days. The estimates of reported methane production rates base on the time interval for the formation of 5% and 90% of the maximum methane formation. b, Mass spectrometric analysis of extracted residual oil for n-alkanes m/z = 85, n-alkylcyclohexanes m/z = 82, n-alkylbenzenes m/z = 92. Exemplary data of the 55 °C culture is presented in Figs. 1b–1d. Data shown are mean ± standard deviation (n = 3 biologically independent replicates). c and d, Archaeal and bacterial community structure revealed by amplicon sequencing in the different temperature treatments after 204 days of incubation, respectively. Only families with relative abundances ≥ 1% are shown. “Other” indicates the sum of groups with relative abundance < 1%. Data shown are mean - standard deviation (n = 3 biologically independent replicates).