Amanuma K, Takeda H, Amanuma H, Aoki Y

Environmental Health Science Division, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Onogawa, Tsukuba 305-0053, Japan. amanuma@nies.go.jp

We have established a transgenic zebrafish line carrying a shuttle vector plasmid (pML4) for detecting mutagens in aquatic environments. The plasmid contains the rpsL gene of Escherichia coli as a mutational target gene, and the kanamycin-resistance gene for recovering the plasmid from the chromosomal DNA. To evaluate the system, we treated embryos of the transgenic fish with N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU), which induces a dose-dependent increase in the mutation frequency of the target gene. The mutation spectrum was consistent with the proposed mechanism of ENU mutagenesis. Similarly, treating the embryos with benzo[a]pyrene or 2-amino-3, 8-dimethylimidazo[4,5- f]quinoxaline, which are found in naturally polluted water, significantly increased the frequency of mutations in the target gene.

Mesh Terms:
Animals, Animals, Genetically Modified, Benzo(a)pyrene, DNA Mutational Analysis, Dose-Response Relationship, Drug, Ethylnitrosourea, Female, Gene Dosage, Genetic Vectors, Male, Mutagenesis, Mutagenicity Tests, Mutagens, Mutation, Quinoxalines, Transgenes, Water Pollutants, Chemical, Zebrafish

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180463

• Chemicals (1)