A culture-independent and -dependent survey of the bacterial community structure in the rhizosphere and soil samples from hot pepper plants was conducted using 16S rDNA clone library and FAME analyses. Out of the 78 clones sequenced, 56% belonged to Proteobacteria, 4% to high G+C Gram- positive group, 3% to Cytophyga-Flexibacter-Bacreroides, and 32% could not be grouped with any known taxonomic division. Among the 127 FAME isolates identified, 66% belonged to low G+C Gram-positive bacteria (Baciilus spp.) and 26% to high G+C Gram-positive bacteria. In a cluster analysis, the results for both methods were found to be strikingly dissimilar. The current study is the first comparative study of FAME and 165 rDNA clonal analyses performed on the same set of soil, rhizosphere soil, and root samples.