Abstract:The bacterium FT17, capable of degrading trichloroethylene, was isolated from trichloroethylene contaminated sediments from the Liaohe River using the water-silicon oil biphasic system. Biochemical, physiological characteristics and phylogenetic study based on the 16S rRNA gene sequences all indicated that strain FT17 should be placed in the Sporosarcina ginsengisoli. The experiment of single factor optimization about the growth of strain FT17 was carried out, and the results showed that the optimum temperature was 34.0°C and the optimum pH value was 7.8. The degradation ratio of trichloroethylene could be enhanced at the present of 100 mg/L phenol. Intracellular and extracellular degrading enzymes were both important to the degradation of trichloroethylene. Two methods were applied to extract plasmids from strain FT17, yet none of plasmids were detected. So it was presumed that the degrading gene may locate on the chromosomes instead of on the plasmids.