Use of Microbial Systems to Assess Potency of Mutagens

Microbial systems like Neurospora, E. coli or Salmonella have also been used for artificial induction of mutations using different mutagens. Since large populations in microbial systems can be screened, they have proved very useful for assessment of potency of these mutagens. Mutation frequencies scored in Neurospora for a forward mutation (Ad-3ad-3)and in Salmonella for a reverse mutation (his-his+), induced by different mutagens are presented in Table 21.6. The methods used for study of mutations and for calculating mutation rates and frequencies in microbial systems are described in the next main topic.