Mutagenic specificity in DNA base sequence by irradiation of health lamp light (UV-B) in Escherichia coli.

A shuttle vector, pZ189, carrying a bacterial suppressor tRNA marker gene, was irradiated with health lamp (HL) light containing UV-B. Plasmid mutations were scored by transforming an indicator strain of Escherichia coli carrying a suppressive blue amber mutation in the beta-galactosidase gene. Plasmid survival was also measured by transforming activity of the indicator strain. The majority of mutations induced by HL light were GC-AT transitions (69%) and the rest were transversions (31%). Some hot-spots in the mutations were observed by sequencing the suppressor gene. Mutagenic specificity in DNA base sequences induced by HL in E. coli agrees well with previous reports about 254-nm or 313-nm light effects on mammalian cells. This agreement may depend on the substitution of the inserted base instead of a G residue at the opposite site of a damaged C residue from conformational change of DNA structure in both bacterial and mammalian cells.