What action does the $3'$ to $5'$ exonuclease activity perform when it detects an error?
Answer
Clipping off the recently added, incorrect nucleotide from the $3'$ end
This exonuclease activity 'backspaces' by clipping off the recently added, incorrect nucleotide from the $3'$ end of the newly synthesized strand, allowing the polymerase to re-attempt insertion.
Related Questions
Which enzyme is the first line of defense against replication mistakes due to its structural selectivity?Approximately how often does DNA Polymerase incorporate the wrong nucleotide before dedicated repair mechanisms intervene?What structural feature causes an incorrect base incorporated by DNA Polymerase to be less stable in the active site?What is the name of the built-in corrective mechanism that acts as an immediate editor during replication?What action does the $3'$ to $5'$ exonuclease activity perform when it detects an error?By what factor does the $3'$ to $5'$ exonuclease proofreading step typically improve fidelity over the initial insertion rate?What is the name of the final safety net system that scans DNA after the replication fork has moved on?In *E. coli*, how does the Mismatch Repair (MMR) system identify which strand contains the error?What is the approximate overall error rate achieved after the Mismatch Repair (MMR) system has corrected the remaining mistakes?What state accelerates when the checkpoints ensuring DNA replication accuracy are compromised?