Lindane-degrading activity under aerobic conditions has been observed in two bacterial strains: UT26, phenotypically identified as Sphingomonas paucimobilis, and a new single unidentified isolate named RP5557(T). The rrs (165 rDNA) sequences for both strains and the phenotypic characteristics for the unidentified isolate RP5557(T) were determined. RP5557(T) does not have high identity (less than 90% in all cases) with any sequence in the GenBank or RDP databases. A phylogenetic analysis based on rrs sequences indicated that RP5557(T) belongs to the gamma-Proteobacteria in a coherent phylum that includes the genera Xanthomonas and Xylella (100% bootstrap), whereas UT26 is clearly separate from the Xanthomonas cluster. Based on the phylogenetic analyses and on the phenotypic characteristics. a new genus, Rhodanobacter, containing a single species, Rhodanobacter lindaniclasticus, is proposed for strain RP5557T (= LMG 18385(T)), which becomes the type strain.