Liriope spicata var.prolifera Y.T.Ma is a indigenous medicinal herb cultivated in Xiangyang of Hubei,China,which belongs to Liriope genus of Liliaceae family.Steroidal saponins,one of the main active components in the tuberous roots of L. spicata var. prolifera,have multiple pharmacological activities.In order to investigate the distribution of endophytic bacteria in L. spicata var. prolifera at different growth stages and to explore the resources of endophytic bacteria producing steroidal saponins,the endophytic bacteria were isolated,purified,identified and function studied.Using pure culture technology,50 endophytic bacteria were isolated from L. spicata var. prolifera  at different growth stages,and these endophytic bacteria were 22 species belonging to 15 genera by colony morphology and molecular biological identification.In addition,16S rDNA PCR-DGGE method was used to analyze the endophytic bacteria distribution in the tuberous root of L. spicata var. prolifera  during the different stages including initial growth stage,rapid growth stage and mature stage.DGGE showed that the structures of endophytic bacteria in tuberous root from three growing periods were all basically the same and slightly difference.By blasting the sequences of 16S rDNA V6-V8 hypervariable region in GenBank,it was found that the 21 sequences contained 21 bacteria species belonging to 14 genera.Moreover,three strains of Pseudoxanthomonas mexicana,Staphylococcus capraeand Microbacterium testaceum were preliminarily identified as possessing the steroidal saponin-producing ability by Color reaction,TLC and HPLC.The above results showed that the endophytic bacteria of L. spicata var. prolifera have the application and development potential of "industrialized" preparation and production of steroidal saponins.