An orange-coloured bacterium, CCBAU 05354(T), was isolated from the soybean rhizosphere following growth on NA medium. The sample was taken from a field in Hebei province, People's Republic of China. The cells were aerobic, Gram-stain-negative, short rods (0.4-0.6 x 0.7-1.7 microm) and non-motile. Growth occurred at 28 degrees C (not at 10 or 37 degrees C), pH 6.0-10.0, and in the presence of 0-1 % NaCl (w/v). Flexirubin pigment was produced and the cells were resistant to some antibiotics. A phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences indicated that strain CCBAU 05354(T) was closely related to Niabella soli KACC 12604(T) (95.1 % sequence similarity). The predominant cellular fatty acids were iso-C(15 : 0), iso-C(15 : 1) G, iso-C(17 : 0) 3-OH and summed feature 3 (comprising C(16 : 1)omega7c and/or C(16 : 1)omega6c). The DNA G+C content was 42 mol%. On the basis of the phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic data, strain CCBAU 05354(T) represents a novel species of the genus Niabella, for which the name Niabella yanshanensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is CCBAU 05354(T) (=LMG 24661(T) =HAMBI 3031(T)).