Strains Paenibacillus sp. BP-23 and Bacillus sp. BP-7, previously isolated from soil from a rice field, secreted high levels of pectinase activity in media supplemented with pectin. Production of pectinases in strain Paenibacillus sp. BP-23 showed catabolite repression, while in Bacillus sp. BP-7 production of pectin degrading enzymes was not negatively affected by glucose. The two strains showed lyase activities as the predominant pectinases, while hydrolase activity was very low. Analysis of Paenibacillus sp. BP-23 in SDS-polyacrylamide gels and zymograms showed five pectinase activity bands. The strict requirement of Ca(2+) for lyase activity of the strain indicates that correspond to pectate lyases. For Bacillus sp. BP-7, zymograms showed four bands of different size. The strain showed a Ca(2+) requirement for lyase activity on pectate but not on pectin, indicating that the pectinolytic system of Bacillus sp. BP-7 is comprised of pectate lyases and pectin lyases. The results show differences in pectin degrading systems between the two aerobic sporogenous bacterial strains studied.