Mechanism of quinolone mutagenicity in bacteria

Gyrase inhibitors of the quinolone type are genotoxic in bacteria. A functioning excision-repair system is needed to show the mutagenic activity in the Ames tester strains. The antibiotics do not interact with DNA directly but induce the gyrase enzyme to cleave the DNA with protein covalently bound at the site-specific double-strand scission. A prominent site of action is shown to be located at a distance of about 80 bp from the hisG428 sequence at which mutations are scored in the responsive strain TA102. Since the interaction of quinolones with the mammalian counterparts of gyrase, topoisomerase II, is lower by orders of magnitude, it is argued that the bacterial screening tests are of little relevance for predicting effects in mammalian cells.     

Genotoxicity of zinc in 4 short-term mutagenicity assays

The genotoxicity of zinc was examined in 4 short-term mutagenicity assays. Zinc acetate produced dose-related positive responses in the L5178Y mouse lymphoma assay and an in vitro cytogenetic assay with Chinese hamster ovary cells, but was negative in the Salmonella mutation assay and did not induce unscheduled DNA synthesis in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes. Zinc-2,4-pentanedione produced frameshift mutations in Salmonella tester strains TA1538 and TA98, but did not induce unscheduled DNA synthesis in primary cultures of rat hepatocytes. The effect of ligand binding of zinc in the in vitro test systems is discussed.     

Direct addition of cultures of tester bacteria into semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) as a modified procedure for preliminary detection of mutagenic pollution of the marine environment by use of microbiological mutagenicity assays

Mutagenic pollution of the natural environment, including marine waters, is a very serious ecological problem. However, since chemical mutagens usually occur and act at low concentrations, their detection and identification is technically difficult, laborious and time-consuming. Therefore, preliminary detection of mutagenic pollution is commonly based on biological mutagenicity assays. On the other hand, triolein-containing semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) provide a method for concentration of hydrophobic organic contaminants, including a large fraction of the mutagens. Combinations of SPMDs with microbiological toxicity and mutagenicity assays have already been described, but only SPMD-derived extracts, prepared with various organic solvents, were tested in such a way to date. We found that the presence of these solvents could interfere with the Vibrio harveyi bioluminescence-based mutagenicity assay. Moreover, preparation of the extracts from SPMD takes usually at least 48 h. Here, we propose a modified procedure, based on direct addition of tester bacteria cultures into SPMD. We found that this procedure is significantly (at least two times) more rapid and several times more sensitive than that based on testing the extracts. This optimization is presented in this report. Moreover, we have performed preliminary studies on samples of marine waters. Positive results (i.e. detection of mutagenic activity) were obtained when test samples came from a region known to be highly contaminated by industrial pollution, while negative results were observed in the case of samples from a region supposed to be of low risk for mutagenic pollution.     

Direct addition of cultures of tester bacteria into semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) as a modified procedure for preliminary detection of mutagenic pollution of the marine environment by use of microbiological mutagenicity assays

Mutagenic pollution of the natural environment, including marine waters, is a very serious ecological problem. However, since chemical mutagens usually occur and act at low concentrations, their detection and identification is technically difficult, laborious and time-consuming. Therefore, preliminary detection of mutagenic pollution is commonly based on biological mutagenicity assays. On the other hand, triolein-containing semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) provide a method for concentration of hydrophobic organic contaminants, including a large fraction of the mutagens. Combinations of SPMDs with microbiological toxicity and mutagenicity assays have already been described, but only SPMD-derived extracts, prepared with various organic solvents, were tested in such a way to date. We found that the presence of these solvents could interfere with the Vibrio harveyi bioluminescence-based mutagenicity assay. Moreover, preparation of the extracts from SPMD takes usually at least 48h. Here, we propose a modified procedure, based on direct addition of tester bacteria cultures into SPMD. We found that this procedure is significantly (at least two times) more rapid and several times more sensitive than that based on testing the extracts. This optimization is presented in this report. Moreover, we have performed preliminary studies on samples of marine waters. Positive results (i.e. detection of mutagenic activity) were obtained when test samples came from a region known to be highly contaminated by industrial pollution, while negative results were observed in the case of samples from a region supposed to be of low risk for mutagenic pollution.     

The mutagenicity of natural products from marine algae.

5 polyhalogenated hydrocarbon natural products isolated from the marine red alga Plocamium spp. were tested for mutagenicity in the Ames reversion assay. All 5 of the compounds induced revertants in Salmonella typhimurium strains TA100 and TA1535, indicating the mutational events involved base substitutions. One of the compounds, designated cross-conjugated ketone, was shown to be almost 200 times more effective as a mutagen than was ethyl methanesulfonate.     

Urban air pollution: use of different mutagenicity assays to evaluate environmental genetic hazard.

The genotoxic activities associated with airborne particulate matter collected in Parma (northern Italy) have been determined. The airborne particle extracts were tested for mutagenicity using Salmonella frameshift (TA98) and base-substitution (TA100) tester strains with and without S9 microsomal activation and Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain D7 in order to determine the frequency of mitotic gene conversion and ilv1-92 mutant reversion in cells harvested at stationary and logarithmic growth phase. The relationship between mitochondrial DNA mutations and ageing, degenerative diseases and cancer prompted us to take into account the mitochondrial informational target, i.e., the respiratory-deficient (RD) mutants. The results obtained show a variability in the response for the different test systems during different months. The Salmonella mutagenicity trend was directly correlated with carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and Pb concentration in airborne particulates and inversely correlated with temperature, whereas the mitochondrial genotoxic effect was higher during spring and late summer. These data suggest that the genotoxic risk assessment is a time-dependent value strictly correlated with the evaluation system being tested.     

The effect of gamma-radiation on smoked fish using short-term mutagenicity assays

The effect of gamma-radiation on the mutagenicity potential of wood-smoked fish (Rastrelliger sp.) was investigated. Smoked fish were irradiated with radiation doses of 2.0, 4.0, 6.0 and 8.0 kGy. The DMSO extracts of non-radiated and irradiated smoked fish were tested for mutagenicity using the Ames plate incorporation assay, host-mediated assay, and the micronucleus test. It was observed that gamma-irradiation did not induce any significant increase in the number of revertants of TA98, TA100 and TA104 as compared with the non-radiated smoked fish. Results of the host-mediated assay and the micronucleus test showed no difference in the mutagenic response of non-radiated and irradiated smoked fish. The results indicate that gamma-radiation does not introduce mutagens in smoked fish.     

Evaluating statistical analyses and reproducibility of microbial mutagenicity assays

The NCI/NTP has completed the first phase of a 4-laboratory study on the reproducibility of testing chemicals for mutagenicity in the Salmonella/microsome assay. This paper is report of the statistical analysis of some of that data. This analysis involved (1) identifying and removing spurious data; (2) determining the adequacy of the remaining data in making a decision on the mutagenicity of the test chemical; (3) performing the statistical tests; and (4) interpreting the results. Using this procedure, 7 approaches were used to determine the mutagenicity of a test. These approaches were the (1) 2-fold rule, (2) modified 2-fold rule, (3) one-way analysis of variance (homogeneity test), (4) test for linear trend, (5) combination of 3 and 4, (6) 97.5th percentile threshold rule and (7) confidence interval threshold rule. The conclusions drawn by each rule were compared to the microbiologists' interpretation, and the results of these comparisons were presented. In addition, the strengths and weaknesses of each rule were discussed. The reproducibility of the assay in this study was examined, and a discussion of the significance of these results was presented.     

The use of pepsin in receptor internalization assays

For internalization experiments that use fluorescent antibody (Ab) staining to distinguish between inside versus outside cellular localization of various receptor targeting ligands, it is critical that there be efficient removal of all residual surface-bound fluorescent Ab. To achieve this, a fluorescent Ab removal technique is commonly employed in receptor internalization assays that utilizes low pH glycine-based buffers to wash off the residual non-internalized fluorescent Ab retained on cell surfaces. In this study, we highlight the shortcomings of this technique and propose an alternative in situ proteolytic approach that we found to be non-deleterious to the cells and significantly more effective in removing the residual fluorescence resulting from non-internalized surface-bound Ab.     

The use of theVibrio harveyi luminescence mutagenicity assay as a rapid test for preliminary assessment of mutagenic pollution of marine sediments

Mutagenic pollution of the natural environment is currently one of the most serious environmental problems. It includes the pollution of marine sediments. Therefore, rapid detection of the presence of mutagens is an important issue. Recently, we have developed a novel microbiological assay for rapid assessment of mutagenicity of samples from the natural environment. This assay is based on bioluminescence of a mutant Vibrio harveyi strain, and was shown to be useful in testing samples of marine water and plant tissues. Here we demonstrate the usefulness of this assay in preliminary assessment of mutagenic pollution of marine sediments. Mutagenicity of environmental samples taken from the Baltic Sea, is documented and compared here with a commercially available standard sediment sample (IAEA 383), which contains known amounts of mutagenic compounds. The whole procedure, from obtaining a sample in the laboratory to getting final results, is very short (less than 4 h).     

Ozone is not mutagenic in the Tradescantia and tobacco mutagenicity assays.

Ozone fumigation of a double heterozygous chlorophyll mutant Nicotiana tabacum var. xanthi n.c. with concentrations up to 300 nl/l and of a heterozygous Tradescantia clone 4430 with concentrations up to 800 nl/l did not increase the frequency of somatic mutations above the spontaneous levels. However, ozone fumigation at these concentrations led to distinct physiological damage to plant tissues.     

The use of transgenic mice for short-term,in vivo mutagenicity testing

In order to develop a short-term, in vivo assay to study the mutagenic effects of chemical exposure, transgenic mice were generated using a lambda shuttle vector containing a lacZ target gene. Following exposure to mutagens, this target can be rescued efficiently from genomic DNA prepared from tissues of the treated mice using restriction minus, in vitro lambda phage packaging extract and restriction minus Escherichia coli plating cultures. Mutations in the target gene appear as colorless plaques on a background of blue plaques when plated on indicator agar. Spontaneous background levels were ′1 × 10⁻⁵ in each of three mouse lineages analyzed. Exposure of lambda transgenic mice to N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea resulted in as much as a 14-fold induction in detected mutations over background levels. The assay is currently being modified to incorporate lacI as the target for ease of mutation detection as well as in vivo excision properties of the Lambda ZAP vector, facilitating sequence analysis of mutant plaques.     

Intercorrelations and sources of variability in three mutagenicity assays: a population-based study

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the intercorrelation between three genetic assays in 112 subjects. The group was pooled from two originally separate but homogeneous subgroups of 56 persons each. Procedures included assays for hprt mutant frequencies, micronuclei in human lymphocytes, and mutations at the glycophorin A (gpa) loci. We found no statistically significant or biologically important intercorrelations among the three biomarkers. We did, however, observe significant correlations between log_e hprt mutant frequency and cloning efficiency (inverse correlation for these 2 variables), age and log_e hprt mutant frequency, an inverse relationship between cloning efficiency and age, and an important differential sex effect favoring a greater micronuclei frequency in females than males. No significant correlations between the covariates of interest and glycophorin A variant frequencies NN or NO were observed. Using multivariable linear regression, age was found to account for the majority of the variability in hprt mutant frequency (greater than sex and/or smoking); for micronuclei data, only sex contributed a statistically significant and biologically important proportion to the total variation. We conclude that despite observing no significant intercorrelations between the three assays performed simultaneously from the same individuals in a large population database, a significant correlation between age and hprt mutant frequency and an inverse association between cloning efficiency and hprt do exist; furthermore, we verified the strong differential sex-specific effect on micronucleus frequencies.