Energy-dependent mitochondrial mutagenicity of antibacterial ofloxacin and its recombinogenic activity in yeast.

Ofloxacin, a specific inhibitor of bacterial topoisomerase II, is known to inhibit the growth of yeast cells and to induce rho- mutants in the yeast S. cerevisiae. The frequency of ofloxacin-induced petite mutants under non-growth conditions was found to be strongly diminished when the cells were depleted in intramitochondrial ATP. Under optimal conditions of mitochondrial mutagenesis the drug induced mitotic recombination and reverse mutation in diploid strains but failed to cure either killer plasmids or the 2 microns DNA of dividing cells. The sensitivity to ofloxacin of the strains deficient in the DNA strand-break repair pathway (rad52) was significantly higher then that of the wild-type strains and of the mutants deficient in excision or mutagenic DNA repair. The results are compatible with the idea that the cytotoxic and genetic activity of ofloxacin in yeast probably results from the inhibited DNA ligation function of topoisomerase II creating DNA breaks that are reparable through the recombination repair pathway.