Mutagenicity of mono-nitrobenzene derivatives in the Ames test and rec assay.

The mutagenicities of 37 mono-nitrobenzene derivatives, i.e. the ortho, meta, and para isomers of nitrotoluene, nitrophenol, nitroaniline, nitroanisole, nitrobenzaldehyde, nitrobenzyl chloride, nitrobenzonitrile, nitroacetophenone, nitrophenetol, nitrobenzoic acid, nitrophenylacetic acid, and nitrocinnamic acid and p-nitrothiophenol, were tested in the Ames test and rec assay. The rec assay gave more positive results than the Ames test. The para-substituted nitrobenzene derivatives were always positive in the rec assay as were all but 2 in the Ames test, while 5 out of 12 ortho and meta derivatives were mutagenic in the Ames test. The results of the present study, combined with those of the previous study, are discussed with special reference to the structure-mutagenicity relationships.