Two bacterial strains associated with the white-rot fungus Phanerochaete sordida were subjected to taxonomic investigation. The isolates, designated KCTC 12081(T) and KCTC 12082, were Gram-negative, non-motile, non-spore-forming and ovoid to rod-shaped. The strains contained major amounts of hexadecanoic acid, cyclo-heptadecanoic acid and omega-7-cis-octadecenoic acid in their cell envelopes. Strain KCTC 12081(T) contained ubiquinone-8 as the major isoprenoid quinone and the G+C content of its genomic DNA was 61.3 mol%. Morphological and chemotaxonomic properties of the strains were consistent with classification in the genus BURKHOLDERIA: In a comparison of 16S rDNA sequence, KCTC 12081(T) shared 100 % similarity with KCTC 12082 and both strains formed a distinct phylogenetic lineage within the genus BURKHOLDERIA: The two strains were also differentiated from other species of this genus by fatty acid composition and phenotypic properties. DNA-DNA relatedness data further supported the separation of the new isolates from closely related species. It is therefore proposed that strains KCTC 12081(T) (=JCM 11778(T)) and KCTC 12082 be recognized as a novel species, for which the name Burkholderia sordidicola sp. nov. is proposed.