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A novel psychrophilic strain, SSB001T, was isolated from an alpine swamp meadow soil in Tibet, China, and identified as a representative of a novel phylogenetic subclade in the genus Paenibacillus, with Paenibacillus antarcticus (96.2%), Paenibacillus macquariensis (96.53%) and Paenibacillus glacialis (96.2%) as the most closely related species on the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses. The strain was distinguished from defined species of the genus Paenibacillus by further study of rpoB gene sequences, phenotypic characterization, cellular fatty acid composition, quinones, polar lipids and meso-diaminopimelic acid in the peptidoglycan. Based upon these results, we propose the strain as a representative of a novel species named Paenibacillus tibetensis sp. nov., with SSB001T (5ACCC 19728T5DSM 29321T) as the type strain. The DNA G+C content (mol%) of strain SSB001T was 40.18 mol % (HPLC). The Qinghai–Tibet plateau is the highest region on the Earth, known as the ‘roof of the world’, with an average altitude of more than 4500