A novel yeast strain that is capable of degrading the phenol at high concentrations was isolated with the phenol as the sole carbon source from the soil samples of Huabei Oil Field, Hebei Province, PR China. The strain was identified with the method of DNA sequencing and designated Trichosporon montevideense PHE1. The strain showed excellent tolerance to the toxicity of the phenol at a concentration of up to 2500 mg/L Study on the batch degradation process showed that the removal rate of the phenol could exceed 99.5% in 18 h in the degradation of the phenol at concentration of 1200 mg/L. (C) 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.