Bacterial assays for recombinagens

Two principal strategies have been used for studying recombinagenic effects of chemicals and radiation in bacteria: (1) measurement of homologous recombination involving defined alleles in a partially diploid strain, and (2) measurement of the formation and loss of genetic duplications in the bacterial chromosome. In the former category, most methods involve one allele in the bacterial chromosome and another in a plasmid, but it is also possible to detect recombination between two chromosomal alleles or between two extrachromosomal alleles. This review summarizes methods that use each of these approaches for detecting recombination and tabulates data on agents that have been found to be recombinagenic in bacteria. The assays are discussed with respect to their effectiveness in testing for recombinagens and their potential for elucidating mechanisms underlying recombinagenic effects.