In contrast to the wild-type, mutant [ANTr8] is able spontaneously to throw off stable respiratory deficient mutants. The frequency of these mutants is considerably enhanced by treatment with ethidium bromide (EB) or the azo-dye Janus green (JG). An unstable cell state with a petite-like phenotype is found in both mutant [ANTr8] and wild-type after EB-treatment. However, only in the mutant is this unstable cell state followed by the appearance of stable respiratory deficient (RD) mutants. Formation of microcolonies is observed both in [ANTr8] and wild-type. RD mutants were isolated after EB treatment. Three of them (mit-12, mit-25, and mit-30) were analyzed and mit-25 characterized in more detail.