| Abstract: | Potassium dichromate and chromium chloride were analyzed for their ability to induce mitotic gene conversion and point reverse mutation in D7 diploid strain of S. cerevisiae. We used cells from the stationary phase of growth with and without metabolic activation (S9 hepatic fraction) and cells from the logarithmic phase, that contain a high level of cytochrome P-450 and have a greater permeability. In the present work we confirmed the genetic activity of K2Cr2O7 in cells from the stationary phase, with and without S9 fraction and in cells from the logarithmic growth phase. A slight increase in genetic activity was observed in experiments with CrCl3 using phosphate buffer, but no genetic effects were noted in Tris-HCl buffer. Our studies suggest that phosphate ion may be the carrier responsible of the entrance of trivalent chromium in the cells. The higher cellular permeability may account for the different results obtained with both compounds in cells from the stationary and logarithmic phases of growth. |
