In the xylose fermentation of Bacillus polymyxa strain 9035, best 2,3-butanediol yields were obtained with 1.0% yeast extract, 4-6% xylose, shaking at 125 rpm and incubation at 30°C.Under these conditions, mannose, galactose, L-arabinose, cellobiose, starch and glucose were readily metabolized and yielded significant amounts of diol.Diol production from xylan was also demonstrated. In addition, the screening of a number of B___tpolymyxa strains on xylose revealed that only strains 9031-1 and 9035 used xyiose extensively and produced significant amounts of diol.The latter strain proved best under scaled-up conditions.