Like Pseudomonas species, Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1 is able to modify the diverse structures of many aromatic compounds to common intermediates that can feed into central pathways. About 20% of the genes of the strain ADP1 can be reasonably associated with catabolic functions. It is interesting to note that almost all of these genes are located in five major "islands of catabolic diversity", within one quarter of the overall genome. The evolutionary basis for this extraordinary clustering is unknown but may be related to the propensity of DNA containing the genes to undergo frequent and extensive tandem duplication.

Table: Some substrates involved in Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1 catabolic pathways.
Compounds	Final products	Related species	Gene name	ACIAD number	Cluster
Alkanesulfonates	Sulfite + Aldehyde	Pseudomonas putida	ssu	0034-0038	-
Vanillate	Protocatechuate	Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1	van	0978-0983 ; 0988	I
Betaine	Betaine aldehyde	Escherichia coli	bet	1008-1012	I
Acetoin	Acetate	Klebsiella pneumoniae	aco	1014 ; 1017-1022	I
Urea	Ammonia	Bordetella bronchiseptia	ure	1088-1096	-
Salicylate esters	Catechol	Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1	sal	1424-1427	II
Aryl esters	Catechol	Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1	are	1428-1431	II
Benzoate	Catechol	Acinetobacter calcoaceticus	ben	1433-1440	II
Catechol	Succinate + Acetyl CoA	Acinetobacter calcoaceticus	cat	1442-1451	II
Alkanesulfonates	Sulfite + Aldehyde	Y. pestis ; Pseudomonas sp.	ssu-like	1505 ; 1518 ; 1527	III
Dibenzothiophene	Hydroxybiphenyl + Sulfite	Rhodococcus sp. IGTS8	sox	1510-1512	III
Sulfuric esters	Sulfate + Phenol/Alcohol	Pseudomonas putida	ats	1586-1588 ; 1592-1593 ; 1600-1601	III
Nitriles	Aliphatic amides	Pseudomonas chlororaphis	nth	1614-1616	III
Amidase	Ammoniac + Acide	Pseudomonas chlororaphis	amdA	1618	III
Protocatechuate	(transporter)	Pseudomonas syringae	pcaT-like	1651	IV
Dicarboxylic acids	Succinate + Acetyl CoA	Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1	dca	1688-1698	IV
Protocatechuate	Succinate + Acetyl CoA	Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1	pca	1702-1712	IV
Quinate	Protocatechuate	Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1	qui	1713-1716	IV
p-hydroxybenzoate	Protocatechuate	Acinetobacter calcoaceticus	pob	1717-1719	IV
Chlorogenate	Quinate + Caffeate	Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1	hca	1720	IV
Caffeate	Protocatechuate	Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1	hca	1722-1728	IV
Malonate	Acetate	Klebsiella pneumoniae	mdc	1753-1762	IV
Nitrate/Nitrite	Ammonia	Ralstonia solanacearum	nas	1908-1914	V
Sarcosine	Glycine + Formaldehyde	Corynebacterium sp.	sox	2550-2552	-
Anthranilate	Catechol	Acinetobacter baylyi ADP1	ant	2669-2671	-
Alkanesulfonate	Sulfite + Aldehyde	Pseudomonas aeruginosa	msu	3470-3472	-