Vanadium (V) is an important metal with critical industrial and medical applications. Elevated V contamination, however, can be a threat to the environment and human health. Microorganisms can reduce the more toxic and mobile VVto the less toxic and immobile VIV, which could be a detoxification and energy metabolism strategy adopted by V-reducing bacteria (VRB). The limited understanding of microbial responses to V contamination and the mechanisms for VVreduction, however, hamper our capability to attenuate V contamination. This study focused on determining the microbial responses to elevated V concentration and the mechanisms of VVreduction in V tailings. The bacterial communities were characterized and compared between the V tailings and the less contaminated adjacent mineral soils. Further, VV-reducing enrichments indicated that bacteria associated with Polaromonas, a genus belonging to the family Burkholderiaceae, were potentially responsible for VVreduction. Retrieved metagenome-assembled genomes (MAGs) suggested that the Polaromonasspp. encoded genes (cymA, omcA, and narG) were responsible for VVreduction. Additionally, Polaromonasspp. was metabolically versatile and could use both organic and inorganic electron donors. The metabolic versatility of Polaromonasspp. may be important for its ability to flourish in the V tailings.