A pure bacterium Pseudomonas chlororaphis DJ-4 with the capability of anaerobic growth using m-xylene as carbon sources was isolated from gasoline contaminated soil. The substrate of m-xylene could be completely degraded by Pseudomonas chlororaphis DJ-4 within the incubation time of 12 days and without a significant lag period when the initial concentration was below 150 mg/l, and the degradation rates of m-xylene increased with increasing the initial concentration within the range between 11.6 mg/L and 146.9 mg/L. The cell specific growth rates on m-xylene obeyed the Haldane–Andrew model when the initial concentration was in the range of 10–150 mg l^-1. The Haldane–Andrew model parameters were determined by non-linear regression on specific growth rates and various initial substrate concentrations, and the value of maximum specific growth rate, half saturation constant and inhibition constant was 2.56 d^-1, 233.9 mg l^-1 and 18.1 mg l^-1, respectively. The model provided an excellent prediction of the growth kinetics and the interactions between the substrate.