Mutagenic effect of nalidixic acid on bacteriophage T4 (author's transl)

Nalidixic acid can efficiently induce the reversion of some T4 rII mutations. The great majority of the strains whose reversion can be induced by this antibiotic are also sensitive to the mutagenic action of proflavin, indicating that mutagenicity of nalidixic acid results in base pair addition or deletion. With bacterial host strains resistant to nalidixic acid, the mutagenic effect is greatly reduced but not the effects on phage multiplication. This fact shows that the mutagenic agent is not the nalidixic acid itself but a derivative synthesized in sensitive bacterial strains.