Ames Test Kits

An estimated 90% of all carcinogens are also mutagens. The Ames Test, originally developed by Dr. Bruce Ames and his colleagues, uses modified bacteria sensitive to mutagenic agents to assess a compounds ability to cause direct DNA mutations. Reverse mutational events cause bacteria to revert back to a protrophic state and grow on media deficient in selected nutrients. This test is called the Salmonella Ames Salmonella/microsome mutagenicity assay (Salmonella test; Ames test), has been used to confirm mutagenic mechanisms for several known carcinogens, and used to discover new, previously unknown carcinogens in consumer products. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now uses the Ames test to screen many chemicals rapidly and inexpensively. Those few chemicals that appear to be mutagenic by the Ames test are tested further in animals to assess their carcinogenic potency.

Many different tester strains comprised of both Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli have been developed for use in the Ames assay that detect specific mutation types like base-pair or frameshift and are more sensitive for specific agents. Improvements to the test have increased strain susceptibility to compound entry, introduced deficient DNA repair mechanisms and conferred metabolic bioactivation capabilities. The original pour plate method has also been largely replaced by a more recent fluctuation assay method which employs a liquid exposure, incubation and reversion step and uses a colorimetric pH indicator to demonstrate bacterial growth. These improvements have been combined to lower detection limits, increase the breadth of compounds that can be detected, allow for high-throughput adaptations and made the assay more biologically relevant to humans. EBPI offers many different assays options for each of the three kit methods described below to ensure the success of your mutational analysis.

Muta-ChromoPlate™ Basic Kit

5051 Muta-ChromoPlate Basic Kit (Contains 1 bacterial, reagents, controls and plastics) 

B5051 Muta-ChromoPlate Bacterial Strain Kit (Contains 2 bacterial reagents, controls and plastics)

5051S9 Activation Enzymes (designed for the Ames Test)

A microplate version of the traditional "pour plate" Ames Test.  The Muta-ChromoPlateTM Kit is sensitive and user friendly. It is commonly used to detect mutagenic potential of individual chemicals or mixtures of chemicals in water, wastewater, sediment, air aqueous extracts, new chemicals, foods, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals and any other material that can be put into aqueous solution or micro-suspension, such that it can be taken up by the test strain.

6041 Ames-384 ISO Basic Kit (Contains 1 bacterial, reagents, controls and plastics)

6041-2BS Ames-384 ISO Bacterial Strain Kit (Contains 2 bacterial reagents, controls and plastics)

The Ames ISO Basic Kit is a fluctuation assay verison of the well-known “Ames Test” which uses a 48-well sample exposure format on a 384-well microplate to reduce reagent and plastic used.  The Ames ISO procedure was developed to test mutagenic materials in a variety of sources like environmental air and water samples, foods, personal care products, and industrial effluents by the fluctuation assay which is a variation of the traditional “Ames Test”.

The Ames ISO method provides researchers with a reliable test method which is facile to set up and run, amenable to samples in aqueous solution or suspension and produces an easily-detectable colorimetric endpoint after 2-3 days of incubation at 37 °C.

5041 Ames Modified ISO Basic Kit (Contains 1 bacterial, reagents, controls and plastics)

5041-2BS Ames Modified ISO Bacterial Strain Kit (Contains 2 bacterial reagents, controls and plastics)

This Ames test method is a modification of the Ames ISO fluctuation assay. Bacterial strains are pre-exposed to differing concentrations of the mutagenic compounds with a growth media in suspension for 100 minutes. Each dilution is run in triplicate.

The samples are then transferred, mixed with a reversion solution and plated onto a 96-well plate while using a 48-well evaluation format. The samples are incubated for 2-3 days and the number of revertant colonies (individual wells) are counted by colorimetric analysis.

Which Ames Test is best for my research

Muta-ChromoPlate Ames Test

• Ideal for direct assessment of environmental samples
• Educational uses for classroom projects (easy to preform)
• 96 well format on 96 well plates. More endpoints/ sample can improve significance
• Bacterial exposure occurs throughout the assay
• Extremely user friendly with minimal steps required to obtain results
• Excellent to test volatile materials
• No preconcentration steps required, large sample volumes used
• More sensitive results compared to plate incorporation assays

ISO and Modified ISO Ames Tests

• Ideal for pharmaceutical and novel molecule discoveries
• 48-well format in 96 or 384-well plates reduces plates required for result development
• HIGH THROUGHPUT METHOD! Many samples or dilution levels can be tested rapidly
• Smaller sample sizes required
• Bacterial concentration is checked by optical density (ensures log growth phase) 
• Reduced plastics and reagents necessary, less disposal
• Quantification is simple and test scoring is quick and easy
• Assay is more sensitive than the plate-incorporation assay
• Utilizes pre-exposure period to enhance bacterial uptake
• More consistent exposure concentration during auxotrophic growth phases

Ames Test Kits

EBPI offers a wide variety of Ames test methods for research and development, environmental sampling, and drug discovery projects.