A comparative method based on an analysis of accumulation of starvation-induced Ade+ reversions and cell death during adenine starvation was developed and exploited for estimating the role of RAD6 in the starvation-induced reversions. It was shown that inactivation of RAD6 function in Saccharomyces cerevisiae markedly enhances the accumulation of Ade+ reversions, and therefore it is likely that this gene is taking part in maintaining the low level of starvation-induced mutations in yeast cells.