Chlorimuron-ethyl is a type of long-residual herbicide applied widely to soybean fields in China, but little information is available about the long-term impact of this herbicide on soil nitrogen-transforming microbial communities. Soil samples (0-20 cm) were collected from three treatments (no, 5-year and 10-year application of chlorimuron-ethyl) in a continuously cropped soybean field. Plate count (CFU), most probable number (MPN) count, and clone library analyses were conducted to investigate the abundance and composition of nitrogen-fixing, ammonia-oxidizing, and denitrifying bacterial communities, and a chlorate inhibition method was adopted to measure the soil nitrification potential. Long-term chlorimuron-ethyl application reduced the abundance of soil culturable nitrogenfixing, ammonia-oxidizing, and denitrifying bacteria. Moreover, chlorimuron-ethyl decreased the diversity of nitrogenfixing and ammonia-oxidizing bacteria but promoted that of denitrifying bacteria. Chlorimuron-ethyl restrained some uncultured nitrogen-fixing bacteria, ammonia-oxidizing bacteria Nitrosospira sp. cluster 3a and 3d, and some novel or putative denitrifying bacteria. The nitrogen-fixing bacteria were closely related to Bradyrhizobium sp., ammoniaoxidizing bacteria Nitrosospira sp. cluster 3b and 3c, and most denitrifying bacteria were resistant to chlorimuronethyl. There was a negative correlation between the nitrification potential and the residual amount of soil chlorimuronethyl (R 2 =0.88, n=3, P<0.05). Therefore, long-term application of chlorimuron-ethyl in the continuously cropped soybean field could seriously disturb soil N-transforming communities, and might impact soybean soil biological quality and soybean growth. Further studies should address rational amendment models of this herbicide to reduce the possible ecological risks of long-term application of this herbicide to soybean fields.