Mutagenicity evaluation of nitroanilines and nitroaminophenols in Salmonella typhimurium

Synopsis In our studies of structure-activity relationships, three nitroanilines and nine nitroaminophenols were tested for their ability to induce mutations in Salmonella typhimurium strains TA1535, TA100, TA1537, TA1538 and TA98. The compounds m-nitroaniline, 4-nitro-2-aminophenol, and 3-nitro-6-aminophenol were active in two or more of these strains. The compounds o-nitroaniline, 2-nitro-3-aminophenol, 3-nitro-4-aminophenol, 4-nitro-3-aminophenol, 3-nitro-2-aminophenol, 2-nitro-6-aminophenol, 2-nitro-4-aminophenol and 2-nitro-5-aminophenol were inactive, both in the presence and in the absence of S9 mix. The compound p-nitroaniline was also inactive in all tests with the possible exception of that in strain TA98 in the presence of S9 mix, where it was either very weakly mutagenic or non-mutagenic. The mutagenic activity or inactivity of these compounds appears to be dependent on the positions of the amino, nitro, and hydroxy groups in their chemical structures. Etude en mutagénèse des nitroanilines et nitroaminophénols sur Salmonella typhimurium.