Recent studies have described various microorganisms that can degrade PAH, however, there are currently limited methods available to screen for PAH-degrading microorganisms. To screen for PAH-degrading microorganisms, a sublimation method (Alley, Jeremy F. and Lewis R. Brown. 2000. Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 66, 439-442) was modified to produce a simple screening system. In our results, there were several bacterial species capable of pyrene degradation including genera, Coryenbacterium, Gordonia, Rhodococcus, and Streptomyces, which have been screened from 350 bacterial isolates of commercial gasoline and oil-spilled sediment by the sublimation method. The main advantage of this method is that it (i) safely deposits an even, thin and visible layer of PAH onto the agar surface without the use of solvents and (ii) the quantity of PAH sublimed onto the agar can be easily controlled. Overall, this sublimation method may be an effective and simple technique to screen for PAH-degrading microorganisms.