Pseudomonas sp. was isolated from sewage effluent by elective culture with nitrilotriacetic acid (NTA) as its sole nitrogen and carbon source for growth. NTA-nitrogen was converted to biomass and ammonium by growing cultures with small quantities of nitrite (< 1 ppm) being produced. Washed cell suspensions degraded all of the NTA-nitrogen to ammonium before total conversion of the NTA-carbon to carbon dioxide and water. Resting cell suspensions grown from NTA oxidized NTA, aminodiacetic acid, and glycine immediately, whereas methylaminodiacetic acid was oxidized only after an adaptive lag period, and sarcosine was not oxidized at all. Oxidation of aminodiacetic acid was always more rapid than NTA. Nitrosamines or other nitroso compounds were not found in culture or resting cell supernatants incubated with NTA.