IDENTIFICATION OF ENVIRONMENTAL MUTAGENS/CARCINOGENS:SPECIFICLOCUS ASSAYS IN NEUROSPORA

The measurement of specific-locus mutations in various eukaryotic organismshas been used as a mechanism to estimate the genetic consequences of humanexposure to environmental mutagens.Specific-iocus assays are usually confined tosingle genes and measure various types of genetic damage ranging from single base-pair substitutions to multilocus deletions.Not all such assays measure the samerange of genetic damage.Thus.different specific-locus assays may provide differentdata,both quantitative and qualitative.as a result of exposure to the sameenvironmental mutagen.The specific-locus assay in the ad-3 region of Neurosporacrassa measures genetic damage at 2 closely linked loci as well as other loci in thegenome.As a result.this assay permits a comprehensive evaluation of the types ofgenetic damage produced by different environmental mutagens.In this paper.thespectrum of genetic damage that can be detected in Neurospora is reviewed andcompared with other eukaryotic systems.