A thermotolerant, Gram-stain-positive, aerobic, sporangium-forming actinomycete, strain RA45T, was isolated from a desert region in Xinjiang Uigur Autonomous Region, north-western China. Comparative analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence and phenotypic characterization revealed that strain RA45Tbelonged phylogenetically to the familyPseudonocardiaceaeof the suborderPseudonocardineae. Strain RA45Tshowed more than 5 % 16S rRNA gene sequence divergence from recognized species of genera in the familyPseudonocardiaceae, forming a distinct lineage within the evolutionary radiation occupied by the generaAmycolatopsis,Prauserella,Thermocrispum,Saccharomonospora,SaccharopolysporaandSciscionella, but distinct from each of them. The affiliation to the family was supported by the presence of suborder- and family-specific 16S rRNA signature nucleotides, a DNA G+C content of 69.9 mol%, the presence ofmeso-diaminopimelic acid, ribose, arabinose, glucose and galactose, which are characteristic components of cell-wall chemotype IV of actinomycetes, the presence of menaquinone MK-9(H4) as the major respiratory lipoquinone, a lack of mycolic acids and the presence of anN-acetylated type of muramic acid. However, strain RA45Tdiffered from known genera of the family in its polar lipid composition: the major phospholipids were phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol mannosides, phosphatidylmethylethanolamine, diphosphatidylglycerol, phospholipids of unknown structure and phospholipids of unknown structure containing glucosamine (phospholipid type IV). Based on its morphological, chemotaxonomic and phylogenetic characteristics, strain RA45Tis considered to represent a novel species of a new genus in the familyPseudonocardiaceae, for which the nameYuhushiella desertigen. nov., sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain ofYuhushiella desertiis RA45T(=CGMCC 4.5579T=JCM 16584T).