Caffeine, a possible suppressor of ultraviolet induced genetic aberrations

Abstract

In yeast, the low frequency of spontaneous occurrence of mitotic crossing over is increased several fold by ultraviolet irradiation. Since as a consequence of mitotic crossing over, the genes distal to the crossover become homozygous in fifty per cent of the nuclei resulting in the exposure of defective allels which were otherwise unexperessed due to heterozygous condition of the loci. In the present investigation, inhibition of post-replication repair by 0.1 per cent caffeine greatly reduced (63%) the frequency of UV-induced mitotic crossovers, thereby reducing the chances of occurrence of UV-induced genetic aberrations. Similar studies, if extended to higher systems such as mammalian cells in culture can be of great help in preventing ultraviolet –induced genetic aberrations in humans.