A novel actinomycete, strain FX61(T), was isolated from a saline sample collected from the Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region in China and subjected to a taxonomic study using a polyphasic approach. The predominant menaquinones were MK-9(H6), MK-9(H8) and MK-9(H4). The major fatty acids were iso-C16 : 0, anteiso-C15 : 0, iso-C15 : 0, iso-C16 : 1 H, C16 : 0, iso-C14 : 0 and anteiso-C17 : 0. The phospholipid profile contained diphosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylglycerol, phosphatidylethanolamine, phosphatidylinositol, two phosphatidylinositol mannosides and an unidentified phospholipid. The G+C content of the genomic DNA was 72 mol%. The 16S rRNA gene sequence of the isolate had greater than 98 % similarity with those of Streptomyces griseoincarnatus ATCC 23623(T) (98.2 %), Streptomyces labedae DSM 41446(T) (98.2 %), Streptomyces variabilis ATCC 19815(T) (98.2 %), Streptomyces erythrogriseus ATCC 27427(T) (98.2 %), Streptomyces matensis ATCC 23935(T) (98.2 %), Streptomyces althioticus ATCC 19724(T) (98.2 %) and Streptomyces luteosporeus ATCC 33049(T) (98.0 %), showing that the novel strain should be assigned to the genus Streptomyces. DNA-DNA hybridizations with the seven above-mentioned members of the genus Streptomyces showed 29.8, 28.5, 27.0, 25.5, 25.0, 23.5 and 22.0 % relatedness, respectively. On the basis of the phenotypic characteristics and genotypic distinctiveness, strain FX61(T) should be classified as a novel species of the genus Streptomyces, for which the name Streptomyces wuyuanensis sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is FX61(T) (= CGMCC 4.7042(T) = KCTC 29112(T)).