Genetic systems for salicylate catabolism were analyzed in 12 strains of Pseudomonas putida, isolated from polluted soil samples collected in the Murmansk and Tula oblasts. All of the studied P. putida strains utilize salicylate in the ortho-pathway of catechol cleavage without employing the enzymes of the "classical" nah2 operon. The data demonstrates that salicylate degradation in the studied strains is performed with the involvement of the salicylate hydroxylase gene analogous to the nahU gene of strain P. putida ND6. New variants of salicylate hydroxylase genes nahG1 and nahU were found.