Induction of auxotrophic mutations by treatment of Chinese hamster cells with 5-bromodeoxyuridine and black light.

Treatment of an aneuploid Chinese hamster cell line (V79) in tissue culture with 5-bromodeoxyuridine and black light, with or without prior exposure of cells to another mutagen, led to the isolation of auxotrophic mutants, each of which exhibits a specific nutritional requirement for glycine, uridine, purine, or for a combination of glycine, hypoxanthine, and thymidine. 61 mutants that could not use exogenous galactose were also isolated. Thus, this treatment functions as an inductive, but not as a selective, procedure for mutations in mammalian cells.