Cells are Gram-stain-negative, ovoid or rod-shaped, non-spore-forming, occurring singly, in pairs or in chains. Some genus members are motile. The cell size varies from 0.2 to 1.5 µm in width and from 1.0 to 2.5 µm in length. Chemo-organotrophic; capable of utilizing a broad range of organic compounds as growth substrates. Grow on tryptone soy agar. Some species can grow on MacConkey agar. All members of the genus are mesophilic. Growth of some species is inhibited at 37 or 42 °C. The growth pH range varies from 4.0 to 10.0. The predominant ubiquinone is Q-8. The major fatty acids are C18 : 1ω7c, summed feature 3 (C16 : 1ω7c and/or C16 : 1ω6c) and C16 : 0. The DNA G+C content values range from 59 to 65 mol%. The species form a distinctive clade between clades containing species of the genera Burkholderia and Paraburkholderia , respectively, in phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences, and they lack the molecular signatures, conserved sequence indels (CSI), which are specific for the latter genera. The CSIs in amino acid sequences of prepilin peptidase, 16S rRNA processing protein RimM and hypothetical proteins BYI23_A015260, BUI23_A002220 (cytochrome oxidase subunit I) and BYI23_A006130 (a gramicidin biosynthesis protein) described by Sawana et al. (2014) can be used as molecular markers for distinguishing members of the genus from other bacteria. The genus members were isolated from different types of soil, a wastewater-treatment system, a fungus and a moss. The type species is Caballeronia glathei.

The description is as provided by Zolg & Ottow (1975) and emended by Vandamme et al. (1997) with the following additional properties. The position in phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences and the specificities of conserved sequence indels are in accordance with the genus description.

The type strain is N15T (=ATCC 29195T=DSM 50014T=LMG 14190T).

The description is as provided by Sheu et al. (2015) with the following additional properties. The position in phylogenetic trees based on 16S rRNA gene sequences and the specificities of conserved sequence indels are in accordance with the emended genus description.