A Gram-stain-positive actinobacterium, designated strain YIM 93316(T), was isolated from a salt lake in Xinjiang Province, north-west China, and was subjected to a polyphasic taxonomic study. The isolate grew at 10-45 degrees C, at pH 6-9 and in the presence of 1-15 % (w/v) NaCl, but no growth was observed in the absence of NaCl. The cell-wall diamino acid contained alanine, glutamine and lysine with peptidoglycan type A4alpha. Polar lipids contained diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylinositol, phosphatidylinositol mannosides, an unknown glycolipid and an unknown phospholipid. The predominant menaquinone was MK-8(H(4)). The major fatty acids were anteiso-C(15 : 0) and anteiso-C(15 : 1). The DNA G+C content of strain YIM 93316(T) was 70.1 mol%. Chemotaxonomic properties supported the affiliation of strain YIM 93316(T) to the genus Georgenia, and this was supported by phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences. Levels of 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity between strain YIM 93316(T) and Georgenia thermotolerans TT02-04(T), Georgenia ruanii YIM 004(T) and Georgenia muralis 1A-C(T) were 96.6, 96.5 and 96.3 %, respectively. Data from fatty acid, physiological and biochemical tests allowed the clear phenotypic differentiation of strain YIM 93316(T) from recognized members of the genus Georgenia. On the basis of evidence from the present polyphasic study, strain YIM 93316(T) is considered to represent a novel species of the genus Georgenia, for which the name Georgenia halophila sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is YIM 93316(T) (=DSM 21365(T) =CCTCC AB 208144(T)).