Mutagenicity of beta-glucuronidase in the Ames test

The enzyme preparation beta-glucuronidase/arylsulphatase from Helix pomatia (Boehringer) caused base-pair substitutions in Salmonella typhimurium TA100 and TA1535 strains within the dose range of 0.50-50 microliter per plate. No effect was observed in the TA98 strain. The presence of S9 mix did not substantially affect the mutagenic potential of beta-G. The number of induced revertants decreased continually from experiment to experiment carried out in the course of 12 weeks.