Application of Bioluminescence Assay to Impove the Ames Test

The Ames test is a method developed by us for detecting mutagens. To improve the Ames test, the plasmid pACYCL184 with lux gene from Vibro qinghaiensis was introduced into Salmonella typhimurium TA97, TA98, TA100 and TA102. Four bioluminescent engineering bacterial strains were obtained, named as TAL97, TAL98, TAL100 and TAL102. The test showed that the four engineering bacterial strains still reserved the relative characters of the former strains, and they could also be used in the classical Ames test. The mutagenecity tests indicated that there was a good dose effect between the bioluminescence values and the mutagen concentration. It affirmed that it was feasible to use the bioluminescence instead of the plate clone count. The result also showed the bioluminescence assay used less hours than the classical one did. The improved Ames test is simple, convenient and fast. Fig 3, Tab 3, Ref 11