As with
mev-1, a mutation in
gas-1 resulted in hypersensitivity to the superoxide anion-generating chemical paraquat.
gas-1 was more hypersenstive at 20C than 15C, which was not surprising given that
gas-1 is difficult to even propagate at 25oC. As with
mev-1, the
gas-1 mutation also rendered animals hypersensitive to hyperoxia. In addition, the life spans of both
gas-1 and
mev-1 mutants were significantly shortened by elevated oxygen concentrations. It was determined previously that
mev-1 animals were hypermutable to oxygen (Ponder, Hartman and Ishii, unpublished data). Conversely,
gas-1 was only weakly hypermutable if at all. Finally,
kn1 mutation in
mev-1 did not confer hypersensitivity to the volatile anaestetic halothane.