Rescuing the bacterial replisome at a nick requires recombinational repair and helicase reloading.

ABSTRACT: DNA damage occurs in all cells and must be repaired to maintain genome integrity. Many DNA lesions are targeted for removal by repair systems that excise the damage, thereby generating a temporary single-strand discontinuity in the chromosome. If DNA repair has not been completed prior to a round of genome duplication, the single-strand discontinuity (nick or gap) can be converted to a double-strand break (DSB) by an oncoming replication fork. Because the genomic location of nucleobase damage is stochastic, investigating the fate of replication machinery (replisome) at DNA repair sites with single-strand discontinuities has been limited. Here we address this issue by expressing Cas9 nickases in Bacillus subtilis to create site-specific single-strand discontinuities in a bacterial chromosom

SUBMITTER: Winterhalter C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12748557 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature