Comparative mutagenicity of palmotoxin Bo and aflatoxins B1 and M1.

The mutagenicity of palmotoxin Bo and of aflatoxin M1 relative to that of aflatoxin B1, the potent mutagen, was studied in five Ames' Tester Strains of Salmonella typhimurium (TA-98, TA-100, TA-1535, TA-1537, TA-1538). Aflatoxins B1 and M1 are both highly mutagenic in a microsome-mediated system in TA-100. The prediction of the relative carcinogenicity of aflatoxin M1 to aflatoxin B1 posed by the mutation of TA-100 is probably more authentic than TA-87. The mutagenic potency of palmotoxin Bo is less than that of either aflatoxin B1 or M1.