Thirty-three Streptomyces strains were isolated from soils heavily contaminated by polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. Five strains showed a stable cometabolic activity against phenanthrene, fluoranthene and pyrene in the presence of different primary carbon sources. Nine PAH-metabolites could be identified in the culture broth of these strains. Some features of the isolates (carbon source utilisation, antibiotic resistance) were compared to those of the reference strains Streptomyces viridosporus ATCC 27479 and Streptomyces griseus ATCC 23345.