A yellow-pigmented bacterial strain, designated RCML-52(T), was isolated from an abandoned gold mine in the desert in Xinjiang, China. Strain RCML-52(T) was Gram-negative, aerobic and non-motile. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain RCML-52(T) was affiliated with the genus Lysobacter. Strain RCML-52(T) exhibited <95.6 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity to the type strains of all species of the genus Lysobacter. The major fatty acids were iso-C(16 : 0) (27.6 %), iso-C(15 : 0) (19.1 %), iso-C(17 : 1)ω9c (16.4 %), iso-C(11 : 0) 3-OH (6.5 %) and iso-C(11 : 0) (5.3 %). The DNA G+C content was 69.7 mol%. The major isoprenoid quinone was Q-8. On the basis of phylogenetic, phenotypic and chemotaxonomic analysis, strain RCML-52(T) should be assigned to a novel species of the genus Lysobacter, for which the name Lysobacter xinjiangensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is RCML-52(T) (=CCTCC AB 208194(T) =KCTC 22558(T)).