N-METHYL-N'-NITRO-N-NITROSOGUANIDINE AS A MUTAGEN FOR BLUE-GREEN ALGAE: EVIDENCE FOR REPAIR(1)

Survival and mutagenesis have been examined in the marine coccoid blue-green alga, Agmenellum quadruplicatum, after treatment with the chemical mutagen, N-methyl-N'-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (NTG). When cells were immediately returned to growth conditions following NTG treatment, the survival level was consistently low and essentially independent of the treatment conditions. The types of mutants found paralleled those previously described in the freshwater coccoid, Anacystis nidulans. If, however, cells were kept under very low light intensity, a nongrowth condition, following NTG treatment, viable cell recovery was dramatically increased. This "dim light" repair in A. quadruplicatum has characteristics similar to those reported for the dark repair systems of bacteria and yeast.