title: Erythrosine, a permitted food dye, is mutagenic in the Bacillus subtilis multigene sporulation assay.
abstract: Erythrosine increased the yield of sporulation minus mutants of Bacillus subtilis excision repair-proficient strain 168 by approximately equal to 400% at a concentration of 1 mg/ml under ambient light conditions. This mutagenic response was dose-dependent (0-1 mg/ml). Significantly, the food dye did not mutate the corresponding repair-deficient B. subtilis, hcr-9 (exc-). A decrease in the mutagenicity of erythrosine to B. subtilis strain 168 was apparent on metabolism by rat liver S9 mixture or by rat caecal cell-free extracts. Erythrosine did not exhibit differential toxicity to B. subtilis excision repair-proficient (168) and -deficient (hcr-9) strains, although it was highly toxic to both strains. This indicated non-involvement of excision repair in the dye-mediated toxic reactions.
authors.affiliation: Food Technology and Enzyme Engineering Division, Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Trombay, India.
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Lakdawalla
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Netrawali
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001412:Bacillus subtilis / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000235:genetics; D001711:Biotransformation; D002432:Cecum / Q000378:metabolism; D004923:Erythrosine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005452:Fluoresceins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005505:Food Coloring Agents; D005798:Genes, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects*; D008862:Microsomes, Liver / Q000378:metabolism; D009152:Mutagenicity Tests; D009153:Mutagens; D051381:Rats; D013171:Spores, Bacterial / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D005452:Fluoresceins; D005505:Food Coloring Agents; D009153:Mutagens; D004923:Erythrosine