EFFECT OF GENOTYPE ON MUTAGENICITY OF NIRIDAZOLE IN NITROREDUCTASE-DEFICIENT BACTERIA

  • 1 January 1981
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 41  (6) , 2305-2307
Abstract
The mutagenicity of niridazole (an antihelminthic agent used in humans) for Salmonella typhimurium depends on the enzymic reduction of the nitro function. The response of niridazole nitroreductase-deficient bacteria to niridazole is reduced to 4.4 and 0.19% that exhibited by the enzyme-proficient parent strain when the deficiency is the result of a base substitution and frameshift mutation, respectively. The residual activity (4.4%) seen in the strain with a base substitution mutation may reflect the activity of an enzyme with an amino acid substitution, while the basal level (0.19%) of activity indicates the action of a different nitroreductase with a low specificity for niridazole.