[Experimental study of the mutagenic activity of gentamicin sulfate in relation to the causative agent of plague].

Gentamicin sulfate was studied with an aim of obtaining mutants of the plague microbe with a changed character of requirements in the growth factors. The antibiotic provided a high yield of auxotrophic mutants and induced streptomycin resistance in some cells. Mutants with single dependence on arginine, leucine, histidine and uracyl were most often. Comparison of the data obtained with gentamicin and those obtained with other chemical mutagens showed that gentamicin by its mutagenic activity was only slightly inferior than the preparations of the group of supermutagens.