Photosynthetic bacteria which can utilize ferulate as a sole carbon source for their metabolic activities were isolated from soils by liquid enrichment culture technique. The strain P-1 was selected by the highest capability of degrading ferulate in aerobic and anaerobic conditions. The strain P-1 was rod-shaped with its motility, strained gram negatively and could not utilize sulfur compounds. This strain has the bacteriochlorophyll a group I carotenoid and membrane structures like lamellae. As the results of physiological, morphological and cultural charactderistics, the isolate was identified as Rhodopseudomonas plaustris, one of the purple nonsulfer bacteria. The strain P-1 utilized 2mM/day in aerobic condition and 0.86 mM/day in anaerobic condition.