Multiple pathways of DNA repair and their possible roles in mutagenesis.

In studies on bacteria, the excision repair of UVR-induced DNA base damage has been divided into two major pathways on the basis of physiologic requirements and genetic control. The major pathway requires a functional polA+ gene, does not need complete growth medium, is largely error free, and produces short patches during repair. The second pathway requires complete growth medium and functional recA+, recB+, recC+, lexA+, uvrD+, and polC+ genes, is mutagenic, and produces long patches during repair. A second type of ecision repair exists, in which the modified base is removed by a DNA glycosylase, and the chain is nicked by an apurinic (apyrimidinic) acid endonuclease. Subsequent events are presumed similar to the above excision repair process. The postreplication repair system has been divided into at least four distinct pathways, three of which depend on functional recB+, lexA+, and uvrD+ genes, and are error free. A fourth pathway depends on the above gene products but is blocked by postirradiation treatment with chloramphenicol, and may be the UV-inducible, error-prone, mutagenic pathway of repair ("SOS repair"). A possible fifth pathway is dependent on a functional recF+ gene and is independent of the recB+-dependent pathway. Mutagenesis is the result of error-prone DNA repair, and evidence is growing that carcinogenesis is also the result of error-prone repair. Therefore, a complete understanding of DNA repair is crucial to a complete understanding of the molecular basis of carcinogenesis.