rec-Assay with spores of Bacillus subtilis with and without metabolic activation.

The rec-assay with Bacillus subtilis strains H17 Rec+ and M45 Rec- was carried out with their spores. The use of spores ensured more than 50 times higher sensitivities with several typical chemical mutagens compared with those with vegetative cells. This improved sensitivity enabled us to detect DNA-damaging activities of typical metabolically activated chemicals. Conditions of improvements and quantitative aspects are analyzed and described.