10.22376/ijpbs.2019.10.1.p1-12 Volume 4 Issue 2 2013 (April - June) A strain of lessThan i greaterThan Citrobacter lessThan /i greaterThan with chitinolytic activity was isolated by screening of five marine sediment samples near NTPC area of the Visakhapatnam Coast of Bay of Bengal (India), an arm of the Indian Ocean. The taxonomic position of a chitinolytic marine isolate, strain haritD11 was established using a polyphasic approach. The organism merits species status in the genus lessThan i greaterThan Citrobacter lessThan /i greaterThan according to the chemical and phenotypic data. Phylogenetic analysis of the strain based on its 16S rDNA sequence shows that there was 100% similarity and identity without any nucleotide gaps with the species lessThan i greaterThan Citrobacter freundii lessThan /i greaterThan strain DSM 30039(T). As the organism was distinguished with significant differences in certain genotypic and phenotypic characteristics, it was proposed as a new strain variety of lessThan i greaterThan Citrobacter freundii lessThan /i greaterThan and designated as lessThan i greaterThan Citrobacter freundii lessThan /i greaterThan str. nov haritD11 (GenBank accession number of strain D11 is KC344791). HARITHA MERUVU AND SRI RAMI REDDY DONTHIREDDY Citrobacter freundii, chitinolytic, polyphasic taxonomy, phylogenetic analysis, 16S rDNA sequence 1168-1175