Induction of "Petite" Mutants of Yeast, Saccharomyces cerevisiae, by Photodynamic Action of Acriflavine

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Treatment of yeast cells with acriflavine followed by illumination with fluorescent lamps resulted in extensive "petite" induction in addition to rapid cell inactivation and nuclear gene mutation. There was no petite induction or cell inactivation in the un-illuminated cells. Such photobiological damage induced by acriflavine was not observed under deoxygenated conditions, such as in the presence of NaN₃, which is a scavenger of singlet oxygen (¹O₂). Photodynamic treatment of yeast cells did not cause marked changes in the CsCl sedimentation profile of mitochondrial DNA. These results showed that the petite induction and the cell inactivation after acriflavine treatment are mainly due to type II photodynamic action.