To study the role of ionic liquid as a solvent in whole cell biocatalyst, it is necessary to probe the effects of ionic liquid treatments on microbial activity. In this paper, Saccharomyces cerevisiae was selected as a test bacterium to study the effects of bmim[PF6] ionic liquid in different concentration on yeast activity through determining the growth curve, sugar degradation curve, microbial activity, colonial morphology and cell morphology. The results revealed that the growth of yeast is inhibited strongly in low concentration ionic liquid, while the lethal effect is feeble in high concentration ionic liquid. This result was totally different from that of supercritical CO2 treatment or high concentration benzene methanol treatment which would lead most yeast to death.