Some physiological proper-ties of deodorant microorganisms from the seed culture which had been used for the treatment of the feces of farm animals were studied. One hundred and forty isolates were obtained, of which 122 isolates could actively deodorize the feces. These strains were divided into three groups (I, II, and III) based on rite utilization of carbon sources. Group I and II isolates which preferentially utilized VFA were found to be dominant in the seed culture, whereas Group III isolates preferred sugars to the acids as the carbon source, The three typical strains from each group were identified tentatively as Rhodococcus, Bacillus and Staphylococcus spp. The presence of glucose repressed growth on n-valeric acid by about 20 and 80% for Bacillus and Rhodococcus, respectively Both strains did not utilize glucose. Staphylococcus sp. utilized more sugars than acids. (C) 1997 Elsevier Science Ltd.