Strain KV-663 T was isolated from a soil sample collected from a paddy field in Japan by using GPM agar plates. Strain YM21-029 was obtained from a lake sediment sample by using HSV agar. The two novel strains were Gram-positive, catalase-positive, rod-shaped bacteria with LLdiaminopimelic acid as the diagnostic diamino acid of the cell-wall peptidoglycan. The major menaquinone was MK-8(H 4 ). Mycolic acids were not detected. The G+C content of the DNA was 69-70 mol%. 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis revealed that these strains represent a novel lineage within the family Intrasporangiaceae, order Actinomycetales, and are related to members of the genera Intrasporangium and Terracoccus. Based on morphological, biochemical and chemotaxonomic properties, together with phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, the two new strains are considered to represent a novel species of a new genus, for which the name Humibacillus xanthopallidus gen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain of the type species, Humibacillus xanthopallidus, is