A Gram-stain-negative, non-motile, light-pink-pigmented, aerobic, rod-shaped bacterium, designated V5RD(T), was isolated from soil of Damxung county in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. Strain V5RD(T) grew luxuriously at 10 degrees C, at pH 9.0 and in the presence of 1 % NaCl (w/v). Phylogenetic analysis of 16S rRNA gene sequences placed strain V5RD(T) in the genus Pedobacter and found that it was most closely related to Pedobacter alluvionis DSM 19624(T) (97.3 %), Pedobacter ginsenosidimutans JCM 16721(T) (96.84 %), Pedobacter agri DSM 19486(T) (96.28 %), Pedobacter roseus JCM 13399(T) (96.22 %), Pedobacter sandarakinus KCTC 12559(T) (95.92 %) and Pedobacter borealis DSM 19626(T) (95.85 %). The G+C content of the genomic DNA of the type strain V5RD(T) was 37.40 mol%. DNA-DNA relatedness for the type strain V5RD(T) with respect to its closest phylogenetic relative, Pedobacter. alluvionis DSM 19624(T), was 62.5 +/- 1.7 %. The polar lipid profile of the strain consisted of phosphatidylethanolamine, one unidentified aminolipid, one unidentified glycolipid and two unidentified polar lipids. Menaquinone MK-7 was the predominant respiratory quinone, and summed feature 3 (comprising C-16 : 1 omega 7c and/or C-16 :1 omega 6c), iso-C-15 : 0 and iso-C-17 : 0 3-OH were the major fatty acids. With respect to phenotypic characteristics, biochemical properties and phylogenetic inference, strain V5RD(T) represents a novel species of the genus Pedobacter, for which the name Pedobacter psychrotolerans sp. nov is proposed. The type strain is V5RD(T) (=CGMCC 1.15644(T)=DSM 103236(T)).