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A Gram-positive, alkaliphilic bacterium, designated strain Zby6, was isolated from Zhabuye Lake in Tibet, China. The strain was able to grow at pH 8.0-11.0 (optimum at pH 10.0), in 0-8 % (w/v) NaCl (optimum at 3 %, w/v) and at 10-45 °C (optimum at 37 °C). Cells of the isolate were facultatively anaerobic and spore-forming rods with polar flagellum. The predominant isoprenoid quinone was MK-7, and its cell wall peptidoglycan contained meso-diaminopimelic acid. The major cellular fatty acids were iso-C, C and anteiso-C. The major polar lipids consisted of phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol, and phosphatidylethanolamine. The genomic DNA G+C content of the isolate was 38.9 mol%. Phylogenetic analysis based on 16S rRNA gene sequences revealed that strain Zby6 was a member of the genus Bacillus and most closely related to Bacillus cellulosilyticus DSM 2522 (97.7 % similarity). The DNA-DNA relatedness value between strain Zby6 and B. cellulosilyticus DSM 2522 was 59.2 ± 1.8 %. Comparative analysis of genotypic and phenotypic features indicated that strain Zby6 represents a novel species of the genus Bacillus, for which the name Bacillus alkalicola sp. nov. is proposed; the type strain is Zby6 (=CGMCC 1.10368 = JCM 17098 = NBRC 107743). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]