Filtration behaviors in the unsteady-state phase of crossflow filtration of broths of Bacillus subtilis, Escherichia coli, and Lactobacillus delbrueckii, which are rod-shaped, were studied from the viewpoint of the changes in the specific resistance and in the structure of the microbial cake formed on the membrane surface. The permeation flux followed the cake filtration law at the initial stage of the crossflow filtration of the broths of B. subtilis and E. coli, where the cells deposited randomly on the membrane. filtration of at. delbrueckii broth, the period of random deposition was shorter. cake formed at the initial stage agreed with that measured in dead-end filtration. started to increase in comparison with that measured in dead-end filtration due to shear-induced arrangement of the cells. The extent of the increase in specific resistance became higher and the time taken to start the cell arrangement became shorter with increasing circulation flow rate. The increase in specific resistance due to the shear-induced arrangement was more appreciable in the crossflow filtration of the broth oft. delbrueckii than that of B. subtilis and E. coli. The average permeation flux was increased considerably by applying periodical backwashing with appropriate time intervals. The permeation flux was well predicted by the cake filtration law, since the cells deposited in a way similar to that for dead-end filtration during a sufficiently short period of crossflow filtration in a backwashing mode.