Bacterial diversity of reed (Phragmites australis) periphyton communities of Kelemen-szék and Nagy-Vadas (two Hungarian soda ponds) was investigated using molecular cloning and cultivation-based techniques. The majority of the 80 Kelemen-szék and 72 Nagy-Vadas bacterial isolates proved to be moderately halophilic and alkaliphilic. A great proportion of the isolates showed phosphatase and urease activity, utilized aesculin, citrate and certain biopolymers (e.g., gelatine and tween 80). Partial 16S rDNA sequence analysis of 33 Kelemen-szék and 20 Nagy-Vadas ARDRA group representatives showed Gram-positive (Nesterenkonia, Cellulomonas, Dietzia, Bacillus and Planococcus) dominance at both sampling sites. Species of the genera Acidovorax, Hydrogenophaga (beta-Proteobacteria) and Flavobacterium, Sphingobacterium (Bacteroidetes) were represented only from Kelemen-szék. Altogether 16 isolates showed low sequence similarity with yet described bacteria and may represent novel taxa. Screening of the 16S rRNA gene libraries of 129 Kelemen-szék and 158 Nagy-Vadas clones resulted in 30 and 28 different ARDRA groups, respectively. Sequence analysis revealed a Gram-negative (Rheinheimera, Aquimonas, Cellvibrio, Flavobacterium and Sphingobacterium) dominated phylogenetic diversity. A high number of the clones were affiliated with uncultured bacterial clones described from diverse environmental samples.