Deletogenic activity of 1,2:7,8-diepoxyoctane in the Salmonella typhimurium tester strain TA102

Use of 2-deoxyglucose in liquid media for the selection of mutant strains of Penicillium echinulatum producing increased cellulase and β-glucosidase activities

Mutagenesis and selection were applied to a strain of Penicillium echinulatum by treating conidia with hydrogen peroxide or 1,2,7,8-diepoxyoctane and then by incubating the conidia for 48 h in broth containing microcrystalline cellulose washed in 0.5% (w/v) aqueous 2-deoxyglucose before plating them onto cellulose agar containing 1.5% (w/v) glucose from which colonies showing the fastest production of halos of cellulose hydrolysis were selected. This process resulted in the isolation of two new cellulase-secreting P. echinulatum mutants: strain 9A02S1 showing increased cellulase secretion (2 IU ml-1, measured as filter paper activity) in submerged culture in agitated flasks containing a mineral salts medium and 1% of cellulose, and strain 9A02D1, which proved more suitable for the production of cellulases in semisolid bran culture where it produced 23 IU of beta-glucosidase per gram of wheat bran.

Role of PSO genes in repair of DNA damage of Saccharomyces cerevisiae

Photoactivated psoralens used in treatment of skin diseases like Psoriasis and Vitiligo cause DNA damage, the repair of which may lead to mutations and thus to higher risk to have skin cancer. The simple eukaryote Saccharomyces cerevisiae was chosen to investigate the cells' genetic endowment with repair mechanisms for this type of DNA damage and to study the genetic consequences of such repair. Genetic studies on yeast mutants sensitive to photoactivated psoralens, named pso mutants, showed their allocation to 10 distinct loci. Cloning and molecular characterization allowed their grouping into three functional classes: (I) the largest group comprises seven PSO genes that are either generally or specifically involved in error-prone DNA repair and thus affect induced mutability and recombination; (II) one PSO gene that represents error-free excision repair, and (III) two PSO genes encoding proteins not influencing DNA repair but physiological processes unrelated to nucleic acid metabolism. Of the seven DNA repair genes involved in induced mutagenesis three PSO loci [PSO1/REV3, PSO8/RAD6, PSO9/MEC3] were allelic to already known repair genes, whereas three, PSO2/SNM1, PSO3/RNR4, and PSO4/PRP19 represent new genes involved in DNA repair and nucleic acid metabolism in S. cerevisiae. Gene PSO2 encodes a protein indispensable for repair of interstrand cross-link (ICL) that are produced in DNA by a variety of bi- and polyfunctional mutagens and that appears to be important for a likewise repair function in humans as well. In silico analysis predicts a putative endonucleolytic activity for Pso2p/Snm1p in removing hairpins generated as repair intermediates. The absence of induced mutation in pso3/rnr4 mutants indicates an important role of this subunit of ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) in regulation of translesion polymerase zeta in error-prone repair. Prp19p/Pso4p influences efficiency of DNA repair via splicing of pre-mRNAs of intron-containing repair genes but also may function in the stability of the nuclear scaffold that might influence DNA repair capacity. The seventh gene, PSO10 which controls an unknown step in induced mutagenesis is not yet cloned. Two genes, PSO6/ERG3 and PSO7/COX11, are responsible for structural elements of the membrane and for a functional respiratory chain (RC), respectively, and their function thus indirectly influences sensitivity to photoactivated psoralens.

Mutagenic activity of structurally related oxiranes and siloranes in Salmonella typhimurium

Ring-opening molecules like oxiranes (epoxides) maybe suitable for the development of non-shrinking dental composite materials. Since oxiranes are reactive molecules, they can cause adverse biological effects in living organisms. The introduction of siloranes, a merger of silane and oxirane, may solve this problem. Here, new oxiranes and siloranes were analyzed for the induction of mutations in Salmonella typhimurium (TA97a, TA98, TA100, and TA102), and a reactive oxirane molecule served as a reference. This chemical, epoxy cyclohexyl methyl-epoxy cyclohexane carboxylate (Est-Ep) tested positive in S. typhimurium TA100. The numbers of mutants were about 3-10-fold higher than controls in the presence of a metabolically active S9 fraction isolated from rat liver. Only a weak mutagenic effect was observed after direct testing (without S9). Di(cyclohexene-epoxidemethyl)ether (Eth-Ep) also caused a slight increase of mutant numbers in TA100 both in the presence and absence of S9. In contrast, no effects were detected with the large oxirane molecules, 2,2-bis(4,1-phenylenoxy-3,1-propanediyl-3-oxatricyclo [3.2.1.0(2,4)]octylcarboxy) propylidene (Nor-BP-Ep) and 2,2-bis(4,1-phenylenoxy-3,1-propanediyl-3,4-epoxycyclo-hexylcarboxylic-acid) propylidene (Est-BP-Ep). As to the siloranes, 1,4-bis(2,3-epoxypropyloxypropyl-dimethylsilyl)-benzene (Phen-Glyc) was a direct mutagen in S. typhimurium TA100 and TA102. This weak but dose-related increase of revertants was even enhanced by S9. Other siloranes, like di-3,4-epoxy cyclohexylmethyl-dimethyl-silane (DiMe-Sil), methyl-bis[2-(7-oxabicyclo[4.1.0]hept-3-yl)phenyl silane (Ph-Sil), and 1,3,5,7-tetrakis(ethyl cyclohexane epoxy)-1,3,5,7-tetramethyl-cyclotetrasiloxane (TET-Sil) tested negative in all S. typhimurium strains. All compounds will be further analyzed for the formation of chromosomal aberrations in mammalian cell cultures.

Similarity pattern analysis in mutational distributions

The validity and applicability of the statistical procedure - similarity pattern analysis (SPAN) - to the study of mutational distributions (MDs) was demonstrated with two sets of data. The first was mutational spectra (MS) for 697 GC to AT transitions produced with eight alkylating agents (AAs) in the lacI gene of Escherichia coli. The second was a recently summarized data on the distributions of 11562 spontaneous, radiation- and chemical-induced forward mutations in the ad-3 region of heterokaryon 12 of Neurospora crassa. They were analyzed as large two-way contingency tables (CTs) where two kinds of profiles were compared: site (or genotypic class) profiles and origin (or mutagen) profiles. To measure similarity (homogeneity) between any pair of profiles, the relevant sufficient statistics, Kastenbaum-Hirotsu squared distance (KHi(2)), was used. Collapsing the similar profiles into distinct internally homogeneous clusters named 'collapsets' revealed their similarity pattern. To facilitate the procedure, the computer program, COLLAPSE, was elaborated. The results of SPAN for the lacI spectra were found comparable with the results of their previous analysis with two multivariate statistical methods, the factor and cluster analyses. In the ad-3 data set, five collapsets were revealed among origin profiles (OPs): (I) ENU = 4NQO = 4HAQO = FANFT = SQ18506; (II) AF-2 = EI = MMS = DEP; (III) ETO = UV; (IV) AHA = PROCARB; and (V) He ions = protons. Moreover, the previous observation that MDs are dose-dependent was confirmed for X-ray-induced MDs. Profiles induced with the low doses of X-rays are similar to that induced with 85Sr, and profiles induced with the medium X-ray doses to those induced with protons and He ions. Evaluated similarities appear to be rather reasonable: mutagens with similar mode of action induce similar MDs. Similarity pattern revealed among genotypic class profiles (GCPs) seems to be also interpretable. When supplemented with descriptive cluster analysis, SPAN appears to be a fruitful methodology in MS analysis.