COMPARISON OF HYCANTHONE ("ETRENOL"), SOME HYCANTHONE ANALOGS, MYXIN AND 4-NITROQUINOLINE-1-OXIDE AS FRAMESHIFT MUTAGENS

¹ Department of Biology, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland

Induction frequency of frameshift mutations in Salmonella typhimurium by hycanthone ("Etrenol") is strictly proportional to dose over a greater than 250-fold range. Treatment of sensitive bacteria for two hours at a hycanthone concentration of 0.1 µg/ml is sufficient to induce 10 detected and probably about 10⁴ total mutations in 10⁸ bacteria. Lucanthone (Miracil D), the methyl-substituted analog of hycanthone, is not mutagenic for Salmonella although both lucanthone and hycanthone inhibit bacterial growth at approximately equimolar amounts and are mutagenic for T4 phage. Of five thioxanthene analogs tested (the 6-chloro-substituted analog of lucanthone and IA-3 through IA-6), two hydroxymethyl-substituted derivatives (IA-4 and IA-6) are weakly mutagenic for Salmonella and two analogs (IA-4 and IA-5) are mutagens for T4 phage. Hycanthone, IA-4, IA-6 and two other agents (myxin, a fungistatic agent, and 4-nitroquinoline-1-oxide) in Salmonella cause frameshift mutations in repeating GGGG/CCCC sequences, in alternating GCGCGC/CGCGCG sequences or in both sets of sequences. 4-Nitroquinoline-1-oxide and probably also IA-6 weakly induce base-substitution mutations.

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				P. B. Hulbert, P. E. Hartman, and E. Bueding Hycanthone Analogs: Dissociation of Mutagenic Effects from Antischistosomal Effects Science, November 15, 1974; 186(4164): 647 - 648. [Abstract] [PDF]