Abstract
Rhodococcus sp. 1BN was isolated from a contaminated site and showed various biodegradative capabilities. Besides naphthalene, strain 1BN degraded medium‐ (C 6 ) and long‐chain alkanes (C 16 –C 28 ), benzene and toluene, alone or when the hydrocarbons were mixed in equal proportions. The nucleotide sequence of an alk polymerase chain reaction (PCR) fragment revealed a 59% nucleotide homology to the Pseudomonas oleovorans alkB gene. The nar fragments were highly homologous to genes coding for large and small subunits of cis ‐naphthalene 1,2‐dioxygenase ( narAa and narAb ) and to cis ‐naphthalene dihydrodiol dehydrogenase ( narB ) from other rhodococci. The oxidation of indene to cis ‐(1S,2R)‐1,2‐dihydroxyindan by toluene‐induced cells allows to hypothesize that strain 1BN also carries a toluene dioxygenase‐like system.