Fourteen Gram-stain-positive bacterial strains were isolated from Chinese traditional pickle and yogurt. The strains were characterized using a polyphasic taxonomic approach, including 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis, pheS gene sequence analysis, rpoA gene sequence analysis, fatty acid methyl ester analysis, determination of DNA G+C content, determination of average nucleotide identity (ANI), in silico DNA-DNA hybridization (isDDH) and an analysis of phenotypic features. The data demonstrated that the 14 strains represented ten novel species belonging to the genus Lactobacillus, strains 73-4 T , 247-3 T , 143-4(a) T , 33-1 T , 143-6 T , 247-4 T , 17-4 T , 143-1 T , 735-2 T and M1530-1 T were designated as the type strains. Strains 73-4 T and 247-3 T were phylogenetically related to the type strains of Lactobacillus camelliae and Lactobacillus jixianensis, having 97.0-98.9 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities, 83.9-87.2 % pheS gene sequence similarities and 86.8-93.3 % rpoA gene sequence similarities. Strains 143-4(a) T and 33-1 T were phylogenetically related to the type strains of Lactobacillus rhamnosus, Lactobacillus paracasei and Lactobacillus casei, having 93.6-96.5 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities, 73.9-77.2 % pheS gene sequence similarities and 76.1-77.6 % rpoA gene sequence similarities. Strains 143-6 T , 247-4 T , 17-4 T and 143-1 T were phylogenetically related to the type strains of Lactobacillus concavus, Lactobacillus dextrinicus and Lactobacillus bayanensis, exhibiting 95.5-99.9 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities, 76.5-83.1 % pheS gene sequence similarities and 83.6-98.3 % rpoA gene sequence similarities. Strain 735-2 T was phylogenetically related to the type strains of Lactobacillus zhaoyuanensis, Lactobacillus jiayinensis and Lactobacillus coryniformis, having 98.2-99.1 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities, 82.8-84.1 % pheS gene sequence similarities and 93.0-93.9 % rpoA gene sequence similarities. Strain M1530-1 T was phylogenetically related to the type strains of Lactobacillus suantsaiihabitans and Lactobacillus brevis, having 99.5 and 99.0 % 16S rRNA gene sequence similarities, 90.3 and 81.7 % pheS gene sequence similarities and 97.7 and 91.1 % rpoA gene sequence similarities. The ANI and isDDH values between strains 73-4 T , 247-3 T , 143-4(a) T , 33-1 T , 143-6 T , 247-4 T , 17-4 T , 143-1 T , 735-2 T , M1530-1 T and type strains of phylogenetically related species were less than 86.8 % and 33.9 % respectively, confirming that they represent ten novel species within the genus Lactobacillus. Based upon the data of polyphasic characterization obtained in the present study, ten novel species,