<jats:p>A borrelidin-producing actinomycete, designated strain NEAU-W2<jats:sup>T</jats:sup>, was isolated from the root surface of soybean [<jats:italic>Glycine max</jats:italic> (L.) Merr] and characterized using a polyphasic approach. The organism was found to have morphological and chemotaxonomic characteristics typical of streptomycetes. The G+C content of the DNA was 66.12 mol%. Analysis of the 16S rRNA gene sequence of strain NEAU-W2<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> revealed that the strain formed a distinct clade within the 16S rRNA gene sequence phylogenetic tree and showed highest similarity (99.61 %) to <jats:named-content xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" content-type="species" xlink:type="simple"> <jats:ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1601/nm.7162" xlink:type="simple"> <jats:italic>Streptomyces neyagawaensis</jats:italic> </jats:ext-link> </jats:named-content> ATCC 27449<jats:sup>T</jats:sup>. However, the DNA–DNA relatedness between strain NEAU-W2<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> and <jats:named-content xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" content-type="species" xlink:type="simple"> <jats:ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1601/nm.7162" xlink:type="simple"> <jats:italic>S. neyagawaensis</jats:italic> </jats:ext-link> </jats:named-content> ATCC 27449<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> was 58.51 %. Strain NEAU-W2<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> could also be differentiated from <jats:named-content xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" content-type="species" xlink:type="simple"> <jats:ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1601/nm.7162" xlink:type="simple"> <jats:italic>S. neyagawaensis</jats:italic> </jats:ext-link> </jats:named-content> ATCC 27449<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> and other <jats:named-content xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" content-type="genus" xlink:type="simple"> <jats:ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1601/nm.6817" xlink:type="simple"> <jats:italic>Streptomyces</jats:italic> </jats:ext-link> </jats:named-content> species showing high 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity (98–99 %), as well as other borrelidin-producing strains, based on morphological and physiological characteristics. On the basis of its physiological and molecular properties, it is proposed that strain NEAU-W2<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> represents a novel <jats:named-content xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" content-type="genus" xlink:type="simple"> <jats:ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1601/nm.6817" xlink:type="simple"> <jats:italic>Streptomyces</jats:italic> </jats:ext-link> </jats:named-content> species, <jats:named-content xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" content-type="genus" xlink:type="simple"> <jats:ext-link ext-link-type="uri" xlink:href="http://dx.doi.org/10.1601/nm.6817" xlink:type="simple"> <jats:italic>Streptomyces</jats:italic> </jats:ext-link> </jats:named-content> <jats:italic>heilongjiangensis</jats:italic> sp. nov. The type strain is NEAU-W2<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> ( = CGMCC 4.7004<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> = ATCC BAA-2424<jats:sup>T</jats:sup> = DSM 42073<jats:sup>T</jats:sup>).