Genotoxicity of chromium in vitro on yeast: Interaction with DNA†

The genotoxicity of chromium chloride was investigated in cells of D7 strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae harvested either from logarithmic or stationary growth phase. A weak induction of mifotic gene conversion and point reverse mutation was obtained when the incubations were performed using phosphate buffer. No genetic effect was observed when the incubations were performed using Tris‐HCl buffer. The experiments with 51Cr radiotracer demonstrated that Cr3+ ion enters the yeast cells and binds to DNA even if the incubation mixture was performed with Tris HCl buffer. This behaviour could be due to the highest concentration of CrCl3 that cause some damages to cytoplasmatic membrane.