Reduction of azo dye methyl red coupled with aerobic respiration by growing cultures of Klebsiella oxytoca GS-4-08 was investigated. In liquid media containing dye and 0.6 % glucose in a mineral salts base, 100 mg l(-1) of the dye are completely removed in 3 h under shaking conditions. The dye cannot be aerobically decolorized by strain GS-4-08 without extra carbon sources, indicating a co-metabolism process. Higher initial dye concentration prolonged the lag phase of the cell growth, but final cell concentrations of each batches reached a same level with range from 6.3 to 7.6 mg l(-1) after the dye adaption period. This strain showed stronger dye tolerance and decolorization ability than many reported strains. Furthermore, a new intracellular oxygen-insensitive azoreductase was isolated from this strain, and the specific activity of enzyme was 0.846 and 0.633 U mg(-1) protein in the presence of NADH and NADPH, respectively. N,N dimethyl-p-phenylenediamine and anthranilic acid were stoichiometrically released from MR dye, indicating the breakage of azo bonds accounts for the intracellular decolorization. Combining the characteristics of azoreductase, the stoichiometry of EMP, and TCA cycle, the electron transfer chain theory of aerobic respiration, and the possible mechanism of aerobic respiration coupled with azo reduction by K. oxytoca GS-4-08 are proposed. This study is expected to provide a sound theoretical basis for the development of the K. oxytoca strain in aerobic process for azo dye containing wastewaters.