Strain B538T is a Gram-positive, motile, rod-shaped bacterium, which was isolated from Xinjiang province in China. This organism grew optimally at 30-35 degrees C and pH 8.0-8.5. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain B538T belonged to the genus Paenibacillus and chemotaxonomic data (DNA G+C content, 47.0 mol%; major isoprenoid quinone, MK-7; cell wall type, A1gamma meso-diaminopimelic acid; major fatty acids, anteiso-C15:0 and C16:0) supported affiliation of the isolate with the genus Paenibacillus. Comparative 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses showed that the isolate was most closely related to Paenibacillus glycanilyticus DS-1T, with 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity of 98.1%; sequence similarities to other members of the genus Paenibacillus used in the phylogenetic tree were less than 96.5%. The DNA-DNA relatedness between strain B538T and P. glycanilyticus DS-1T was about 8.0%. On the basis of physiological and molecular properties, strain B538T (=KCTC 3952T=DSM 16970T) is proposed as the type strain of a novel species within the genus Paenibacillus, for which the name Paenibacillus xinjiangensis sp. nov. is proposed.