Ochratoxin A (OTA) is a polyketide mycotoxin produced by several Aspergillus and Penicillium species that is of great concern as a contaminant in agricultural products. In this study, the bacterial strain CO29 with high OTA-detoxification ability was isolated from vineyards and was identified as Cytobacillus oceanisediminis based on morphol. and physiol. characteristics, combined with 16S rRNA gene sequencing and phylogenetic anal. The removal of OTA by CO29 was partly attributed to phys. absorption, but the main mechanism of OTA removal was degradation The degradation activity was completely removed by boiling, and could be significantly reduced by proteinase K treatment, but was only partially inhibited by the metal chelator EDTA. Zn2+ significantly improved the degradation of OTA, while Ca2+ and Mg2+ significantly inhibited the degradation In addition, organic solvents inhibited OTA degradation in a dose-dependent manner. Thus, the mechanism of degradation by CO29 cell lysates was deduced as being enzymic. Two OTA degradation intermediates were observed, one of which was identified as OTα. The time-profiles of OTA degradation by cell lysates showed an increase of OTα corresponding to the decrease of OTA. To our best knowledge, this is the first report of a Cytobacillus oceanisediminis strain with the ability to detoxify OTA, with potential applications in the bioremediation of contaminated soils.