Genetic regulation of octane dissimilation plasmid in Pseudomonas

The enzymes responsible for the oxidation of n-octane to octanoic acid or beyond in Pseudomonas oleovorans are octane inducible and are coded by genes borne on a transmissible extrachromosomal element. The octane to octanoate enzymes induced by octane are repressed by octanol. The chromosome also carries genes coding octanol oxidation enzymes that, in contrast, are induced by octanol, not by octane. The octane plasmid has been transferred from P. oleovorans to several other fluorescent Pseudomonas species. In exconjugants, the presence of both octane and camphor plasmids enhances their segregation rate.