DNA methylation

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DNA methylation The addition of methyl groups to constituent bases of DNA. In both prokaryotes and eukaryotes certain bases of the DNA generally occur in a methylated form. In bacteria this methylation protects the cell's DNA from attack by its own restriction enzymes, which cleave foreign unmethylated DNA and thereby help to eliminate viral DNA from the bacterial chromosome. Methylation is also important in helping DNA repair enzymes to distinguish the parent strand from the progeny strand when repairing mismatched bases in newly replicated DNA, and it may also play some role in controlling the transcription of DNA.

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