Biodegradation of polluted temperate and cold temperature environments may require the activity of psychrophilic and psychotrophic bacteria, because their low temperature growth range parallels the ambient temperatures encountered in these environments. In this present study a mixed population of microorganisms from an ice sample from Spitzbergen was cultivated by enrichment culture technique which exhibited high efficiency to assimilate and mineralize C₁₀ to C₂₂ n-alkanes as the sole source of carbon and energy at both 4 and 20°C. Pseudomonas frederiksbergensis was isolated from this mixed culture, characterized and identified according to the cell wall fatty acids analysis and 16S rDNA sequence. The isolate was psychrophilic, with a growth temperature ranging from 4 to 20°C, an optimum growth temperature of 15°C and an optimal pH of 7.