title: Urban air pollution: use of different mutagenicity assays to evaluate environmental genetic hazard.
abstract: The genotoxic activities associated with airborne particulate matter collected in Parma (northern Italy) have been determined. The airborne particle extracts were tested for mutagenicity using Salmonella frameshift (TA98) and base-substitution (TA100) tester strains with and without S9 microsomal activation and Saccharomyces cerevisiae strain D7 in order to determine the frequency of mitotic gene conversion and ilv1-92 mutant reversion in cells harvested at stationary and logarithmic growth phase. The relationship between mitochondrial DNA mutations and ageing, degenerative diseases and cancer prompted us to take into account the mitochondrial informational target, i.e., the respiratory-deficient (RD) mutants. The results obtained show a variability in the response for the different test systems during different months. The Salmonella mutagenicity trend was directly correlated with carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides (NOx) and Pb concentration in airborne particulates and inversely correlated with temperature, whereas the mitochondrial genotoxic effect was higher during spring and late summer. These data suggest that the genotoxic risk assessment is a time-dependent value strictly correlated with the evaluation system being tested.
mesh_terms: D000393:Air Pollutants / Q000633:toxicity*; D002248:Carbon Monoxide / Q000633:toxicity; D004269:DNA, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial / Q000187:drug effects; D016368:Frameshift Mutation; D005785:Gene Conversion; D007558:Italy; D008110:Liver Extracts; D008862:Microsomes, Liver / Q000201:enzymology; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D009153:Mutagens / Q000633:toxicity*; D009589:Nitrogen Oxides / Q000633:toxicity; D017354:Point Mutation; D012441:Saccharomyces cerevisiae / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium / Q000187:drug effects / Q000235:genetics; D012621:Seasons; D013458:Sulfur Dioxide / Q000633:toxicity; D013696:Temperature; D014504:Urban Health; D001335:Vehicle Emissions / Q000633:toxicity
chemical_list: D000393:Air Pollutants; D004269:DNA, Bacterial; D004272:DNA, Mitochondrial; D008110:Liver Extracts; D009153:Mutagens; D009589:Nitrogen Oxides; D001335:Vehicle Emissions; D013458:Sulfur Dioxide; D002248:Carbon Monoxide