ARABIDOPSIS ASSAY FOR MUTAGENICITY

Four laboratories, two in the Czech Republic (Brno and Prague) and two in the CIS (Moscow and Duschanbe), participated in the International Programme on Chemical Safety's (IPCS) collaborative study to evaluate the utility of the most commonly used plant test systems, including th e Arabidopsis thaliana assay, for assessing the mutagenic potential of environmental agents. Out of the five compounds evaluated in the Arab idopsis assay, three compounds, i.e., ethyl methanesulfonate, N-methyl -N-nitrosourea, and azidoglycerol, were reported to be mutagenic by al l four participating laboratories. Sodium azide (NaN3) demonstrated a negative response in all four laboratories, whereas maleic hydrazide w as reported to be weakly mutagenic by one laboratory and nonmutagenic by the other three laboratories.