The effect of sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) on corrosion of stainless steel 1Cr18Ni9Ti in soils containing chloride ions was studied by bacterial analysis, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy-dispersive X-ray analysis (EDXA). The results showed that the corrosion rate of the steel in soils containing chloride with SRB was larger than that without SRB under the lower chloride ion concentration of 1 wt%. The observations on pitting corrosion of the steel in soils containing the same amount of SRB, however with different chloride concentration revealed that the pitting depth increased with increasing chloride concentration. There existed in the measured EIS only one capacitive loop for the steel in the soil without SRB, and two capacitive loops for that with SRB. (C) 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.