Chapter 11, Problem 27P

Following the spill of a mixture of chemicals into a small pond, bacteria from the pond are tested and show an unusually high rate of mutation. A number of mutant cultures are grown from mutant colonies and treated with known mutagens to study the rate of reversion. Most of the mutant cultures show a significantly higher reversion rate when exposed to base analogs such as $\text{proflavin}$ and $\text{2-aminopurine}$. What does this suggest about the nature of the chemicals in the spill?