YNB54 strain which shows inhibitory activities specific to the plant pathogenic Phytophthora sp. on potato dextrose agar medium was screened among lots of strains isolated from Korean soils. To identify taxonomy of the Phytophthora specific antagonistic bacteria YNB54, 165 rDNA sequence, MIDI fatty acid composition, DNA-DNA hybridization, GC content, and commercial multitest systems such as API 20E and Biolog GN were performed. Results of commercial kits including lots of biochemical and physiological reactions showed that this strain was closely related to taxa including Enterobacter cloacae and Enterobacter cancerogenus species than other genera(Citerobacter Klebsiella, Leclercia). Also, analysis of its MIDI, G+C contents, and DNA-DNA hybridization suggests that this strain was more similiar to the Genus Enterobacter than other genera (Citerobacter Klebsiella, Leclercia). This strain was potentially identified as Enterobacter sp. by these results. But our 16S ribosomal DNA sequences (rDNA) analysis confirmed that it was more closely related to the cluster of Citerobacter freundii ATCC 29935 than any other Enterobacter species. In the absence of defined phylogenetic critia for delineating genera, the results observed with Citrobacter and Enterobacter species suggest that further studies are needed to clarify their relationships. This investigation demonstrates that YNB54 strain is genetically diverse and potentially more taxonomically complex than hitherto realized. Further study is necessary to confirm their taxonomic positions.