In order to be passed through generations, genomic DNA must be undamaged and error-free. However, every day, DNA in a cell undergoes several thousand…

One of the common DNA damages is the chemical alteration of single bases by alkylation, oxidation, or deamination. The altered bases cause mispairing…

Since the discovery of the two BER pathways, there has been a debate about how a cell chooses one pathway over the other and the factors determining…

Exposure to mutagens can damage DNA and result in bulky lesions that distort the double-helix structure or impede proper transcription. Damaged DNA…

Translesion (TLS) polymerases rescue stalled DNA polymerases at sites of damaged bases by replacing the replicative polymerase and installing a…

The double-stranded structure of DNA has two major advantages. First, it serves as a safe repository of genetic information where one strand serves…

In response to DNA damage, cells can pause the cell cycle to assess and repair the breaks. However, the cell must check the DNA at certain critical…

The basic reaction of homologous recombination (HR) involves two chromatids that contain DNA sequences sharing a significant stretch of identity. One…

DNA replication is initiated at sites containing predefined DNA sequences known as origins of replication. DNA is unwound at these sites by the…

Other than maintaining genome stability via DNA repair, homologous recombination plays an important role in diversifying the genome. In fact, the…

Transposons make up a significant part of genomes of various organisms. Therefore, it is believed that transposition played a major evolutionary role…

DNA-only transposons are called autonomous transposons since they code for the enzyme transposase that is required for the transposition mechanism.…

Retroviruses and retrotransposons both insert copies of their genetic elements into the genome of the host cell. Thus, the viral genes are passed on…

LTR retrotransposons are class I transposable elements with long terminal repeats flanking an internal coding region. These elements are less…

As the name suggests, non-LTR retrotransposons lack the long terminal repeats characteristic of the LTR retrotransposons. Additionally, both LTR and…

Because the DNA segments are cut and reorganized in a direction-specific manner, site-specific recombination has emerged as an efficient genetic…

AFM imaging is a powerful technique for the study of protein-DNA interactions. This single molecule method allows the simultaneous resolution of…

The DNA strand exchange reaction mediated by Rad51 is a critical step of homologous recombination. In this reaction, Rad51 forms a nucleoprotein…

Long INterspersed Elements-1 (LINEs/L1s) are repetitive elements that can copy and randomly insert in the genome resulting in genomic instability and…