An extracellular, thermostable salt tolerant amylase has been obtained from Bacillus sp. MD 124 which was previously isolated from municipal garbage. Among the carbon sources used for amylase production, rhamnose, starch, glucose, lactose, galactose, maltose and sucrose favoured enzyme production whereas sorbose suppressed the enzyme production. Maximum amount of enzyme (15 unit/ml culture broth) was produced after 24 h of incubation at 45°C in the medium containing 0.5% starch, at pH 6.5. The effect of temperature, pH as well as effect of metal ions on enzyme activity was also studied. © 1998 Akadémiai Kiadó.