Ethyl methanesulfonate

• Methanesulfonate
• Ethylmesylat
• EMS

Colorless liquid with a fruity odor

Liquid

1.21 g · cm -3 ( 20 ° C)

213.5 ° C

42,7 Pa ( 25 ° C)

Soluble in water

Attention

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Ethyl methanesulfonate (EMS ) is a mutagenic, teratogenic and carcinogenic organic compound with the formula C3H8O3S. EMS gives rise to random mutations into DNA duplexes, by modifying the nucleotides, for example, by the alkylation of guanine (O -6- ethylguanine ). In DNA replication, a thymine is then often incorporated instead of the O -6- ethylguanine opposite cytosine. This results mainly point mutations of G / C to A / T.

Use

EMS is used in molecular biology to generate mutations. The result is, for example, at a mutagenesis of the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana ( thale cress ) to a mutation per 300,000 base pairs, and over 99 % of G / C to A / T. The resulting mutations in a gene of interest can be identified either by sequencing the corresponding DNA fragments into many thousands of individuals, or by the more modern TILLING methodology.