Sulfur is one of the most necessary nutrients for rice growth. Sulfate reduction is a key process in the sulfur biogeochemical cycle, which is active in the surface and rhizosphere of the rice paddy soils. Sulfate\|reducing bacteria (SRB) are the main functional microbial group and can also play important roles in the degradation of some organic pollutants in the rice paddy soils. This review paper summarized recent major advances in the processes of sulfate reduction and the diversity of SRB in the rice paddy soils. It also introduced some prevalent molecular methods in the studies of SRB in the rice paddy soils, such as terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (T\|RFLP), denature gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE), real\|time PCR, and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Future perspectives in the molecular ecology of SRB studies were proposed.