Comparison of the sensitivities of Salmonella typhimurium strains TA102 and TA2638A to 16 mutagens.

Abstract

The qualitative and quantitative sensitivity of the genetically related, histidine-auxtrophic Salmonella typhimurium strains TA102 and TA2638a to 16 compounds was examined. The compounds were mainly cross-linking and oxidising mutagens, the effects of which were known to be detected by strain TA102 preferentially or by a combination of Escherichia coli WP2 (pkM101) and uvrA/pkM101. The morphology and number of spontaneous revertants was also compared. Fourteen of the 16 compounds caused reversion in both strains. Bleomycin and streptomycin induced reversion in strain TA102 but not TA2638a. The greater sensitivity of TA102 to these compounds may be associated with the extrachromosomal location of the target genes. The overall quantitative sensitivity of the two strains was similar for the other compounds. The number of compounds that caused reversions at lower doses or produced greater proportional increases were the same in TA102 as in TA2638a. The spontaneous number of revertants, without and with metabolic activation, respectively, was 98 and 130 for TA2638a and 322 and 465 for TA102. Strain TA2638a formed larger, more uniform colonies than TA102. The present results together with those of previous studies indicate a high degree of concordance between the sensitivity of strains TA102 and TA2638 for the detection of mutagens. The uniform colony size and lower spontaneous reversion frequency seen with strain TA2638a compared with TA102 would make it more reliable and convenient for routine testing. It is concluded that strain TA2638a should be considered as an alternative to TA102 and included, as well as the two E.coli strains, in the set of bacterial strains used in the standard test battery for mutagenicity testing.