[Mutagenesis and responses induced by DNA damage in Escherichia coli: principle of bacterial tests for detecting carcinogenic or antitumoral substances]

Abstract

Various bacterial tests are used for the detection of potential carcinogenic or antitumoral agents. These so-called short-term tests measure different processes triggered by DNA damage: mutagenesis ("Mutatest"), induction of genes that belong to the recA-lexA regulon ("Umu-test" and "SOS-chromotest"), and induction of provirus ("Inductest"). Although these tests share common properties, each exhibits characteristic properties which are revealed by analyzing the various DNA repair mechanisms brought about in E. coli.