A novel method for mutagenicity test of carcinogen by using a series piezoelectric quartz crystal bactrial growth sensor

A new method for mutagenicity testing of carcinogens is proposed in this pa per. Mutagenic activity is examined through monitoring of the growth situat ion of Salmonella typhimurium TA98 strain with a series piezoelectric quart z crystal (SPQC) sensor. This method needs no immobilization and preincubat ion of microorganism, and is simple and rapid. It can be applied to detect mutagen directly. When it was used to study the mutagenicity of dimethyl su lfate;the test time was 4 h at 37 degrees C. There was a good linear relati onship between frequency shift and the dose of mutagen in the range 2.5-20 mu g/mL and the regression equation was Delta F - 53.82 + 3.81C. Some exper imental conditions are also discussed in detail.