Detection of SOS Response Induced by .GAMMA.-Irradiation Using umu-Test, a Bacterial Short-term Test.

The genotoxic effects of γ-irradiation were examined using the umu-test, a bacterial short-term test for the detection of genotoxic agents. The principle of the umu-test is based on the induction of the SOS function against DNA damage in Salmonella typhimurium (TA1535/pSK1002 and TA4107/ pSK1002) ; the test measures colorimetrically the expression of umu gene involved directly in SOS mutagenesis. The strains, irradiated aerobically in phosphate buffer, showed a phasic response to γ-irradiation during their growth cycles. The SOS response was the highest level in the lag phase, suggesting that the irradiated lag-phase cells are very sensitive to γ-irradiation and survive via mutation.The hydroxyl radical scavengers, dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and ethanol, decreased the SOS response in a dose-related manner. DMSO (0.5 M) added into the aerobic cell suspension decreased the SOS response by about 50% in TA1535/pSK1002 and by about 40% in TA4107/pSK1002 ; the similar proportion was shown in the anaerobic cell suspension containing the scavenger. In addition, the SOS response induced under the aerobic condition was reduced by about 60% in the anaerobic cell suspension containing 0.5 M DMSO. The observations suggest that the SOS response is induced similarly by the direct excitation and the indirect effect by hydroxyl radicals generated during the γ-irradiation of aqueous solution.These results obtained using umu-test were consistent with the phasic response and the irradiation effect reported previously using the survival and DNA strand breaks of bacteria.