MMS-induction of different types of genetic damage in Aspergillus nidulans: A comparative analysis in mutagenesis

Methyl methanesulphonate (MMS) was used to test the induction of gene mutation, somatic crossing-over and mitotic non-disjunction in A. nidulans. Gene mutation was tested by inducing mutants resistant to 8-azaguanine and revertants of methG1 in a haploid strain. Somatic crossing-over was tested in heterozygous diploids, both with a selective method, i.e. inducing homozygosis to FPA resistance in a heterozygous fpa A1/+ strain, and with a non-selective method, i.e. identifying the frequencies of colour sectors. This latter method was also used to estimate the induction of non-disjunction because additional markers were present which permitted us to distinguish the two types of colour segregant. Generally, 3 different experimental procedures were used, namely the "plate test", i.e. plating of conidia in agar media containing MMS, and two types of "liquid test", i.e. brief treatment of quiescent or pre-germinated conidia in MMS solution before they were plated on agar media. Point mutations were induced with about equal efficiency with each method, whereas crossing-over was induced preferentially when germinating conidia were exposed to MMS. On the other hand, non-disjunction was induced in germinating and quiescent spores with equal efficiency, but such segregants were not recovered with the selective (fpa) method. The results are discussed for both their practical use in the mutagenic testing procedure and their theoretical implication.