Genotoxicity and mutagenicity of Echinodorus macrophyllus (chapéu-de-couro) extracts.

Echinodorus macrophyllus, commonly known as chapéu-de-couro, is a medicinal plant used in folk medicine to treat inflammation and rheumatic diseases. In this work, we used short-term bacterial assays based on the induction of SOS functions to examine the genotoxicity and mutagenicity of an aqueous extract of E. macrophyllus leaves.

Enhanced sensitivity of Escherichia coli uvrB mutants to mitomycin C points to a UV-C distinct repair for DNA adducts.

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) in Escherichia coli repairs DNA by incising the damaged strand on the 3' and 5' sides of the lesion within pyrimidine dimers and DNA cross-linking adducts. Cross-linking adducts belong to a class of chemical damage to DNA that prevent strand separation, and thus, replication and transcription. For this reason, cross-linking agents such as mitomycin C (MC) have been used in cancer chemotherapy.