Role in mismatch repair of DNA[edit]
When DNA polymerase makes an error resulting in a mismatched base-pair or a small insertion or deletion during DNA synthesis, the cell will repair the DNA by a pathway called mismatch repair. However, the cell must be able to differentiate between the template strand and the newly synthesized strand. In bacteria, DNA strands are methylated by Dam methylase, and therefore, immediately after replication, the DNA will be hemimethylated.[3] A repair enzyme, MutS, binds to mismatches in DNA and recruits MutL, which subsequently activates the endonuclease MutH. MutH binds hemimethylated GATC sites and when activated will selectively cleave the unmethylated daughter strand, allowing helicase and exonucleases to excise the nascent strand in the region surrounding the mismatch.[3][4] The strand is then re-synthesized by DNA polymerase III.