Table 3.
Characteristics of the most popular bioassays used to assess the mutagenicity of compounds
| Phase | Test name | Endpoint | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Salmonella typhimurium reverse mutation test | Gene mutations in bacteria | OECD (1997a) Test Guideline 471 |
| 1 | Escherichia coli WP2 reverse mutation test | Gene mutations in bacteria | OECD (1997a) Test Guideline 471 |
| 1 | In vitro mouse lymphoma test | Gene mutations in mammalian cells | OECD (1997e) Test Guideline 476 |
| 1 | Hypoxanthine guanine phosphorybosyl transferase (HPRT) gene mutation assay | Gene mutations in mammalian cells | OECD (1997e) Test Guideline 476 |
| 1 | In vitro mammalian cell micronucleus test | Structural and numerical chromosome alterations | OECD (2010) Test Guideline 487 |
| 1 | In vitro mammalian chromosome aberration test | Chromosome aberrations | OECD (1997b) Test Guideline 473 |
| 1 | In vitro comet assay | DNA damage | Burlinson (2012) |
| 1 | Saccharomyces cerevisiae gene mutation assay | Gene mutations in yeast | OECD (1986a) Test Guideline 480 |
| 2 | Mammalian erythrocyte micronucleus test | Structural and numerical chromosome alterations | OECD (1997c) Test Guideline 474 |
| 2 | Mammalian bone marrow chromosome aberration test | Structural chromosome aberrations | OECD (1997d) Test Guideline 475 |
| 2 | Transgenic animal assays for point mutations | Gene mutations | IWGT Test Guideline |
| 2 | In vivo comet assay | DNA damage |
Burlinson et al. (2007) Burlinson (2012) |
| 2 | Unscheduled DNA synthesis (UDS) test with mammalian liver cells in vivo | DNA damage | OECD (1997g) Test Guideline 486 |
| 3 | Transgenic animal assays for point mutations | Gene mutations | IWGT Test Guideline |
| 3 | DNA mutation in expanded simple tandem repeat (ESTR) test | Singer et al. (2006) | |
| 3 | Mammalian spermatogonial chromosome aberration test | Structural chromosome aberrations | OECD (1997f) Test Guideline 483 |
| 3 | Mouse visible specific locus test | Gene mutations | Russell et al. (1981) |
| 3 | Mouse biochemical specific locus (MBSL) test | Gene mutations | Lewis et al. (1986) |
| 3 | Rodent dominant lethal test | Gene mutations and chromosome changes | OECD (1984) Test Guideline 478 |
| 3 | Mouse heritable translocation assay | Structural and numerical chromosome changes | OECD (1986b)Test Guideline 485 |