A bacterial mismatch repair system is able to correct replication errors that insert an incorrect nucleotide.How is this repair system able to determine which mismatched base is incorrect?
A)The incorrect base results in a bulge on only the new strand.
B)The incorrect base is in the parental strand which is modified with methyl groups.
C)Some bases of the parental strand are methylated, while none of the new strand are.
D)A methyl group is attached to the incorrect base in the newly synthesized DNA strand.
E)DNA polymerase is bound to the new strand at the location of the incorrect base.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

The bacterial mismatch repair system distinguishes the newly synthesized strand from the parental strand based on methylation. In bacteria like E. coli, the parental DNA strand is methylated, while the newly synthesized strand is not immediately methylated. This difference allows the repair system to identify and correct mismatches on the new strand, ensuring that the original genetic information is preserved.

A Bacterial Mismatch Repair System Is Able to Correct Replication