For bioconversion of bean curd refuse, a processing by-product of bean curd, ethanol-producing anaerobic thermophiles (strains kpu03 and kpu04) were newly isolated. Both of them degraded hemicellulose, but not cellulose at all. Phylogenetically, strains kpu03 and kpu04 belong to the Clostridium and Thermoanaerobacterium genus, respectively. Aerobic thermophiles degrading cellulose were also isolated newly. Among them, strain kpuB3 particularly enhanced ethanol production by anaerobic strain kpu04 in the aerobic bean curd refuse medium. Strain kpuB3 belongs to the Geobacillus genus phylogenetically. The co-culture also significantly reduced CH3SH production, leading to the prevention of offensive odor. These results demonstrate that cellulolytic aerobe cooperated with hemicellulolytic anaerobe in ethanolic fermentation by not only synergistic effect but also deletion of oxygen from the vessels, providing a new model of oxygen deletion process appended to consolidated bioprocessing (CBP). (C) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.