The far-ranging distribution of genes for aromatic hydrocarbon catabolism, predominantly studied in soil pseudomonads, is extended to a marine oligobacterium by finding five homologous sequences in a 5.7-kb chromosomal DNA from a new isolate, Cycloclasticus oligotrophus RB1. RB1 is capable of growth in unamended seawater or mineral salts media supplemented with a variety of aromatic compounds, including toluene, o-, m-, or p-xylenes, as sole carbon sources. The five open reading frames, designated xylM, K, G, C1, and C2, are 57% A+T-rich. XylM is predicted to be an integral membrane protein; XylK and XylG possess glutathione S-transferase (GST) and 2-hydroxy-5methyl-6-oxohexa2,4-dienoate dehydrogenase activities, respectively; XylC1C2 are homologs of the large and small subunits of the iron sulfur protein component of the biphenyl dioxygenase (e.g., BphA1A2).