Investigation of The Mutagenic Effects of Sediment and Water Samples of Kars Stream (Kars) by Ames Test

In this study, three different stations were determined from the regions of Kars Stream that are close to the center. These stations are; 1st station; Yolaçan Village location, 2nd station; Kafkas University campus location, 3rd Station; Kars museum location where the active settlement ends. Water and sediment samples were taken from the determined points by considering the distance between the stations in September 2022. Possible mutagenic properties of water and sediment samples were determined with the Ames test, which is one of the short-term mutagenicity test systems. Extracts (hexane and chloroform) of water samples and sediment samples were prepared from samples taken from three different stations. Serial dilutions of 100 , 10-1 , 10-2 and 10-3 of water and sediment samples were used in the study. Experiments were performed with TA98 and TA100 mutant strains of Salmonella typhimurium in the absence of metabolic activation (S9). Experiment results were evaluated together with spontaneous control, negative control dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) and positive control groups. 4-Nitro-ophenylenediamine for strain TA98 in the absence of metabolic activation (S9) and sodium azide for strain TA100 were used as positive controls. As a result of the mutagenicity tests of the hexane and chloroform extracts of the water samples and sediment samples, no potential mutagenic effect was observed in the samples taken from the 1st station where environmental pollution was less, while a mutagenic effect caused to only a frameshift change was observed in the 2nd station. Both frameshift and mutagenic effect causing base pair change were observed in the 3rd station, which is thought to have the highest environmental pollution.