The Nocardioides genus was established by Prauser H. in 1976 according to morphological and physiological characteristics, as well as partial chemotaxonomic analyses of 17 nocardio-form actinobacteria isolated from soil, based on which a novel species Nocardioides albus was proposed as the type species. With the development in the technologies of isolation, purification and taxonomy, more and more members of this genus with varied morphological, physiological and biochemical characteristics were increasingly discovered from different sources, while all of them shared the same diagnostic characteristics of the genus. In the past 50 years, some of the members of the genus Nocardioides were ever transferred in or out and then some species description was ever emended. Till date, there were 56 validly described species in this genus. Some members of this genus were used in agriculture and industry. The objective of this review is to summarize the research advances in the genus Nocardioides, such as the changes of the taxonomic position and emendation description of the species as well as the application prospect in industry and agriculture.