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A Gram-stain-negative, rod-shaped and white-coloured bacterial strain, designated LL03T, was isolated from hexachlorocyclohexane-contaminated soil at Spolana Neratovice, Czech Republic, where lindane was formerly produced. Strain LL03T was found to be a degrader of α-, γ- and δ-isomers of hexachlorocyclohexane, although no significant degradation activity was observed for the β-isomer. A neighbour-joining tree based on 16S rRNA gene sequences showed that strain LL03T occupied a distinct phylogenetic position in the Sphingobium cluster, showing the highest similarity with Sphingobium wenxiniae JZ-1T (99.2 %). The DNA G+C content of strain LL03T was 67.0 mol%. DNA–DNA relatedness values of strain LL03T with its close phylogenetic neighbours were below the threshold level of 70 %, supporting its identification as a representative of a novel species of the genus Sphingobium . The predominant respiratory quinone was ubiquinone Q-10. The polar lipid profile of strain LL03T also corresponded to those reported for other Sphingobium species (phosphatidylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylmonomethylethanolamine and sphingoglycolipid), supporting its identification as a member of the genus Sphingobium . Spermidine was identified as the major polyamine. The predominant fatty acids were 16 : 0, summed feature 3 (16 : 1ω7c and/or 16 : 1ω6c), summed feature 8 (18 : 1ω7c and/or 18 : 1ω6c) and 14 : 0 2-OH. The polar lipid pattern, the presence of spermidine and ubiquinone Q-10, the predominance of the cellular fatty acids C18 : 1ω7c, C16 : 0 and C14 : 0 2-OH and the G+C content of the genomic DNA supported the affiliation of the strain to the genus Sphingobium . The results obtained after DNA–DNA hybridization, biochemical and physiological tests clearly distinguished it from closely related species of the genus Sphingobium . Therefore, strain LL03T represents a novel species of the genus Sphingobium for which the name Sphingobium baderi LL03T sp. nov. is proposed; the type strain is LL03T ( = CCM 7981T = DSM 25433T).