Replication stress underlies chromium genotoxicity

Hexavalent chromium [Cr(VI)] is an environmental and industrial toxicant that poses grave risks to human health. This heavy metal is a well-established respiratory carcinogen but the underlying mechanisms of DNA damage leading to malignancy are poorly understood. Here, we use quantitative functional profiling with the haploid deletome of the fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe to identify 68 genes that are most critical for surviving Cr(VI) exposure.