It has been well established that essentially all microbial mutagens are rodent carcinogens, yet current mutagen detection systems are limited by their detection sensitivity. Here we report the construction of a pair of hypersensitive biosensors by optimizing both reporters and the host strain. The resulting RNR3-yEGFP and HUG1-yEGFP reporters and the septuple yeast mutant in combination with the automated protocol not only remarkably enhance the detection sensitivity, but also allow a high throughput screen of environmental genotoxins. This system is deemed much more sensitive than similar yeast and bacterium-based tests for all selected chemicals examined in this study.
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