The mutagenic activity of -propiolactone in Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Microbial lag phase can be indicative of, or independent from, cellular stress

Measures of microbial growth, used as indicators of cellular stress, are sometimes quantified at a single time-point. In reality, these measurements are compound representations of length of lag, exponential growth-rate, and other factors. Here, we investigate whether length of lag phase can act as a proxy for stress, using  a number of model systems (Aspergillus penicillioides; Bacillus subtilis; Escherichia coli; Eurotium amstelodami, E. echinulatum, E. halophilicum, and E. repens; Mrakia frigida; Saccharomyces cerevisiae; Xerochrysium xerophilum; Xeromyces bisporus) exposed to mechanistically distinct types of cellular stress including low water activity, other solute-induced stresses, and dehydration-rehydration cycles. Lag phase was neither proportional to germination rate for X. bisporus (FRR3443) in glycerol-supplemented media (r2 = 0.012), nor to exponential growth-rates for other microbes. In some cases, growth-rates varied greatly with stressor concentration even when lag remained constant. By contrast, there were strong correlations for B. subtilis in media supplemented with polyethylene-glycol 6000 or 600 (r2 = 0.925 and 0.961), and for other microbial species. We also  analysed data from independent studies of food-spoilage fungi under glycerol stress (Aspergillus aculeatinus and A. sclerotiicarbonarius); mesophilic/psychrotolerant bacteria under diverse, solute-induced stresses (Brochothrix thermosphacta, Enterococcus faecalis, Pseudomonas fluorescens, Salmonella typhimurium, Staphylococcus aureus); and fungal enzymes under acid-stress (Terfezia claveryi lipoxygenase and Agaricus bisporus tyrosinase). These datasets also exhibited diversity, with some strong- and moderate correlations between length of lag and exponential growth-rates; and sometimes none. In conclusion, lag phase is not  a reliable measure of stress because length of lag and growth-rate inhibition are sometimes highly correlated, and sometimes not at all.

The isolation and characterization of 3-(2-carboxyethyl)cytosine following in vitro reaction of beta-propiolactone with calf thymus DNA

The new adduct 3-(2-carboxyethyl)cytosine (3-CEC) was isolated following in vitro reaction of the carcinogen beta-propiolactone (BPL) with calf thymus DNA. The structure of 3-CEC was confirmed by synthesis from BPL and dCyd. Reaction of BPL with cCyd (pH 7.0-7.5, 37 degrees C) gave 3-(2-carboxyethyl)deoxycytidine (3-CEdCyd) (9% yield) and 3,N4-bis(2-carboxyethyl)deoxycytidine (3,N4-BCEdCyd) (0.6% yield). 3-CEdCyd and 3,N4-BCEdCyd were hydrolyzed (1.5 N HCl, 100 degrees C, 2 h) to 3-CEC and 3,N4-bis(2-carboxyethyl)cytosine (3,N4-BCEC), respectively. The structure of 3-CEC was assigned on the basis of UV and NMR spectra and the electron impact (EI) mass spectra of 3-CEC and a tri-trimethylsilyl (TMS) derivative of 3 CEC as well as deuterated (d27) tri-TMS derivative of 3-CEC. The structure of 3,N4-BCEC was assigned on the basis of UV spectra and the EI mass spectra of a tri-TMS derivative. Ei and isobutane chemical ionization mass spectra of 3-methylcytosine (3-MeCyt) and a di-TMs derivative of 3-MeCyt were obtained and were helpful in deducing the structures of 3-CEC and 3,N4-BCEC. This is the first report of the alkylation by BPL of an exocyclic atom on a base in DNA. Compound 3,N4-BCEC was not detected in BPL-reacted calf thymus DNA. The relative amounts of 1-(2-carboxyethyl)-adenine (1-CEA), 7-(2-carboxyethyl)guanine (7-CEG), 3-(2-carboxyethyl)-thymine (3-CET) and 3-CEC isolated from BPL-reacted DNA following perchloric acid hydrolysis were 0.23, 1.00, 0.39 and 0.41 respectively, when the alkylation reaction was conducted in phosphate buffer at 0-5 degrees C and pH 7.5 and 0.10, 1.00, 0.29 and 0.28 respectively when the reaction was conducted in H2O at 37b degrees C and pH 7.0-7.5.

Esolation of 3-(2-carboxyethyl)thymine following in vitro reaction of beta-propiolactone with calf thymus DNA

3-(2-Carboxyethyl)thymine (3-CET) was synthesized from beta-propiolactone (BPL) and dThd 5'P at pH 9.0--9.5 via the intermediate 3-(2-carboxyethyl)-thymidine-5'-monophosphoric acid (3-CEdThd5'P). 3-CEdThd5'P was converted to 3-CET by hydrolysis in 1.5 N HCl at 100 degrees C for 2 h. The structure of 3-CET was assigned on the basis of UV spectra, electron impact (EI) and isobutane chemical ionization mass spectra and the EI mass spectrum of a trimethylsilyl derivative of 3-CET. BPL was reacted in vitro with calf thymus DNA at pH 7.5. 100 A units of BPL-reacted DNA yielded, following perchloric acid hydrolysis and preparative paper chromatography, 3 A units of 3-CET. Reaction of BPL with the phosphodiester thymidylyl-(3'-5')-thymidine gave 3-(2-carboxyethyl)thymidylyl-(3'-5')-3-(2-carboxyethyl)-thymidine (approximately 3%). Phosphotriester formation was not detected.

Influence of N2 or O2 on two alkylating agents in Neurospora crassa

Previous studies have indicated that the alkylating agent, 2-methoxy-6-chloro-9-(3-[ethyl-2-chloroethyl]aminopropylamino)acridine dihydrochloride (ICR-170), induces much more killing and mutation in conidia of Neurospora crassa treated in an atmosphere of N2 than in an atmosphere of O2. It was desirable to determine if a similar effect--more killing and mutation in N2 than in O2--could be observed with two other known alkylating agents, beta-propiolactone (BPL) and ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS), in the same test system. Conidia of a heterokaryotic strain of N. crassa were bubbled with N2 or O2 during treatment with BPL or EMS. Forward-mutation was measured in the ad-3 region by a direct method. The results indicate that N2 or O2 do not influence the lethal and mutagenic activities of BPL or EMS during treatment of conidia. Hence the influence of N2 or O2 on the lethal and mutagenic activites of ICR-170 is different from the influence of these gases on BPL or EMS using the ad-3 test system in N. crassa.