Commamonas acidovorans SMN4 showed wide growth substrate spectra for various aromatic hydrocarbons. Strain SMN4 was able to grow on biphenyl producing a meta-cleavage compound, yellow 2-hydroxy-6-oxophenylhexa-2,4-dienoic acid with a spray of 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl, while it also grew on catechol, developing yellow 2- hydroxymucoic semialdehyde with a spray of 100 mM catechol. Thus these results indicate that two-ring structures of biphenyl were cleaved by meta-mode in upper and lower pathways. Strain SMN4 metabolized various substituted biphenyl compounds and xylene to the corresponding benzoate derivatives through oxidation of the ring structures. It was clearly shown that biphenyl can be a common inducer in the oxidation of biphenyl and 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl. Various compounds were examined for their suitability to serve as substrates for indole oxidation, indicating that biphenyl, benzoate, and succinate are quite good inducers of indigo production due to the activity of biphenyl dioxygenase. This results suggest that indigo formation is by means of the combined activities of biphenyl dioxygenase and tryptophanase.