Microbial desulfurization of low rank coal by Rhodococcus rhodochrous IGTS8 was investigated using three different pretreated coal samples. Solubilized coal was desulfurized more efficiently than hard coal and more sulfur was extracted from biologically solubilized coal than from chemically solubilized coal. Microbial desulfurization combined with biological solubilization removed 75% of the total sufur while the microbial desulfurization combined with chemical solubilization removed 63%.