A yellowish brown bacterium was isolated from photoheterotrophic enrichment cultures obtained from a mud sample collected from a mangrove forest located in Khola, India. Enrichment and isolation in medium containing 2 % NaCl (w/v) yielded strain JA297(T), cells of which were ovoid and motile. Cells of strain JA297(T) contained vesicular internal membranes and bacteriochlorophyll a and carotenoids of the spheroidene series. Strain JA297(T) grew optimally at 30 degrees C and at pH 6.0-7.0. Photo-organoheterotrophy was the preferred mode of growth. Strain JA297(T) was also able to grow photolithoautotrophically and chemo-organotrophically but not by chemolithoautotrophy or by fermentation. Strain JA297(T) was able to utilize sulfide, sulfite, sulfate, thiosulfate, thioglycolate and cysteine as sulfur sources. Biotin, niacin and thiamine were required as growth factors. On the basis of 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, strain JA297(T) was shown to belong to the class Alphaproteobacteria and was closely related to the type strains of Rhodovulum marinum (96.72 % similarity), Rhodovulum visakhapatnamense (96.42 %) and Rhodovulum sulfidophilum (96.32 %). The DNA G+C composition was 63 mol%. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis and morphological and physiological characteristics, strain JA297(T) could be distinguished from all recognized species of the genus Rhodovulum. This strain is therefore suggested to represent a novel species of the genus Rhodovulum, for which the name Rhodovulum kholense sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is JA297(T) (=ATCC BAA-1544(T)=JCM 14888(T)=CCUG 55397(T)).