Mutagenicity of nifurtimox in Escherichia coli

The effects of nifurtimox, a nitrofuran derivative, on killing and mutation induction in 3 Escherichia coli strains having different DNA-repair systems for UV lesion were studied and compared with the effects of furylfuramide. Nifurtimox induces mutations at a high frequency in both Hs3OR (uvrA-) and H/r30R (radiation-resistant), although no significant killing effect is detected with Hs30R. No significantly induced mutation frequency could be detected with NG30 (recA-), which is very sensitive to killing by nifurtimox. The characteristics of lesions of DNA induced by nifurtimox and the mechanism of mutation induction in Hs30R are discussed.