The taxonomic status of a methyl-parathion-degrading strain, OP-1 T , isolated from a wastewatertreatment system in China, was determined using a polyphasic approach. The rod-shaped cells were Gram-staining-negative, non-spore-forming and non-motile. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that the novel strain belonged to the genus Burkholderia, as it appeared closely related to Burkholderia glathei ATCC 29195 T (97.4 % sequence similarity), Burkholderia sordidicola KCTC 12081 T (96.5 %) and Burkholderia bryophila LMG 23644 T (96.3 %). The major cellular fatty acids, C 16 : 0 , C 17 : 0 cyclo and C 18 : 1 v7c, were also similar to those found in established members of the genus Burkholderia. The genomic DNA G+C content of strain OP-1 T was 59.4 mol%. The level of DNA-DNA relatedness between the novel strain and the closest recognized species, Burkholderia glathei ATCC 29195 T , was only 30 %. Based on the phenotypic, genotypic and phylogenetic evidence, strain OP-1 T represents a novel species of the genus Burkholderia, for which the name Burkholderia zhejiangensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is OP-1 T (5CCTCC AB 2010354 T 5KCTC 23300 T ).Methyl parathion (O,O-dimethyl O-p-nitrophenylphosphorothioate; MP) is widely used to control a large range of insect pests. Like other organophosphorus pesticides, MP kills insects by inhibiting their acetyl cholinesterase, in an irreversible manner (Karalliedde & Senanayake, 1989). Unfortunately, as acetyl cholinesterase occurs in all vertebrates, the potential for organophosphorus pesticides causing damage to humans and other vertebrates is very high (Dumas et al., 1989;Sogorb et al., 2004). Soil microorganisms can play a significant role in the bioremediation of pesticide-contaminated soil, and various MP-degrading soil bacteria have already been isolated and characterized (Chaudhry et al., 1988;Hayatsu et al., 2000;Liu et al., 2005;Zhang et al., 2006;Shen et al., 2010).Burkholderia is a genus of metabolically versatile Gramstaining-negative bacteria. The genus was first proposed by Yabuuchi et al. (1992), who transferred seven species from rRNA group II of the genus Pseudomonas to the novel genus. Many species of the genus Burkholderia play an important role in the biodegradation of pollutants (Coenye & Vandamme, 2003;Lehning et al., 1997;Hayatsu et al., 2000). In this paper, the taxonomy of an MP-degrading bacterium, designated strain OP-1 T , was investigated using a polyphasic approach, The new strain was eventually identified as a novel species in the genus Burkholderia.In 2008, a conventional enrichment method was employed in an attempt to isolate MP-degrading bacteria from sludge collected from the wastewater-treatment system of a pesticidemanufacturing company in the Chinese province of Zhejiang. A subsample (1 g) of the collected sludge was inoculated into an MP-supplemented mineral salts medium (MP-MSM) which contained (l 21 ): 1.5 g K 2 HPO 4 , 0.5 g KH 2 PO 4 , 1.0 g NH 4 NO 3 , 0.2 g MgSO 4 . 7H 2 O, 0.5 g NaCl and, as the so...