Mutagenic and lethal effects of alpha-benzene hexachloride, dibutyl phthalate and trichloroethylene in Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain XV185-14C for reversion studies was used to investigate the genetic activity of alpha-benzene hexachloride dibutyl phthalate and trichloroethylene. The results indicate that none of the three compounds was genetically active when yeast cells were treated in phosphate buffer (pH 7.0) in the absence of metabolic conversion. However, in the presence of the 9000 g supernatant of mice liver homogenate, NADP, glucose-6-phosphate, phosphate buffer (PH 7.4), MgCl2, KCl, the components which were used for the metabolic conversion, trichloroethylene porved to be a powerful mutagen. It increases the frequency of homoserine, histidine and lysine revertants over those of the control levels. Trichloroethylene appears to induce frameshift as well as base substitution mutations.