We have investigated the effect of doxorubicin (Adriamycin) on the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae. Drug treatment was found to be cytotoxic to wild-type strains, in a concentration-dependent manner, whereas a petite mutant lacking the cytochrome oxidase (EC 1.9.3.1) subunit IV gene was resistant to doxorubicin. Transformation of the doxorubicin-resistant mutant with a yeast in vivo expression vector harboring the cytochrome oxidase subunit IV gene restored both respiration and sensitivity to doxorubicin. Another petite strain, with a mutation in the mitochondrial adenine nucleotide translocator (pet9), did not display doxorubicin resistance. However, in contrast to the subunit IV mutant, it possesses a functional respiratory chain. We also compared the cytotoxic effect of doxorubicin with those of daunorubicin and mitoxantrone in yeast. We found comparable levels of cytotoxicity for doxorubicin and daunorubicin, which were significantly greater than that for mitoxantrone. Finally, we constructed a yeast strain that overexpresses manganese superoxide dismutase (EC 1.15.1.1), an antioxidant enzyme present in mitochondria. Overexpression of manganese superoxide dismutase protected significantly against doxorubicin and daunorubicin cytotoxicity but only slightly against mitoxantrone cytotoxicity. Collectively, our results provide direct in vivo evidence that superoxide radicals participate in doxorubicin- and daunorubicin-induced cytotoxicity in yeast. Furthermore, these results indicate that mitochondrial respiration is a crucial factor in anthracycline, and perhaps mitoxantrone, cytotoxicity in yeast.