The purpose of this study was to find a better enzyme extraction reagent for the SOS/umu test to replace the conventional one (the combination of sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) and Z-buffer), which has the disadvantage of denaturing b-galactosidase leading to decreased measurement sensitivity. By adopting a microplate system, the performance of the umu test using BugBuster Master Mix, a commercially available enzyme extraction reagent, was compared with that using the conventional reagent for detecting the genotoxicity of known mutagens as well as environmental samples. BugBuster Master Mix was found to increase the detection sensitivities of the selected genotoxins and environmental water samples, due to the fact that it doesn't denature b-galactosidase. The result of this study showed that BugBuster Master Mix could be a better enzyme extraction reagent for umu test.With increasing numbers of chemical substances being discharged into the environment, evaluation and monitoring of the impacts of these chemicals to the water environment and human health is becoming more and more important (Ohe et al. 2004). Rapid and sensitive bioassay systems have been developed for detecting environmental genotoxins as a whole based on the ability of these substances to cause DNA damage (Monarca et al. 2004).Among different bioassays for the detection of environmental mutagens, the SOS/umu test, which monitors the expression of one of the SOS genes (umuC gene) by measuring b-galactosidase activity (Oda et al. 1985), has attracted vast attention because of its simplicity, short test time and low requirement for disinfection (Hamer et al. 2000). By employing a single Salmonella typhimurium tester strain (S. typhimurium TA1535/pSK1002), this bioassay system allows the detection of SOS mutagenesis after treatment with DNA-damaging agents (Michel 2005). As the standardized method of ISO (ISO/CD 13829) (ISO 2000) and DIN (DIN 38415-3) (DIN 1996), the SOS/umu test has been extensively employed to detect genotoxicity in different media including airborne particles (Oda et al. 2004), tap water (Shen et al. 2003), reclaimed water (Wu et al. 2010) and industrial wastewater (Dizer et al. 2002).Enzyme extraction is one of the important steps in the SOS/ umu test to detect the induced activity of b-galactosidase. In comparison with toluene, the frequently used protein extraction detergent, sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), demonstrated its advantage in shortening test time and increasing induced bgalactosidase activity (Whong et al. 1986), and the combination of SDS and Z-buffer (Miller 1972) has been widely used as the enzyme extraction system for the SOS/umu test. However, SDS treatment has been reported to denature bgalactosidase (Demeo et al. 1988;El Mzibri et al. 1996;Whong et al. 1986) and may result in poor protein recovery (De Mey et al. 2008), which can decrease the measurement sensitivity of b-galactosidase activity.