A plethora of lesion-replicating DNA polymerases

Lesions in DNA often pose considerable impediments to genome duplication. To overcome this block to DNA replication, cells utilize specialized accessory factors that allow the synthesis of nascent DNA chains opposite the blocking lesion. Recent studies suggest that many of the key participants in translesion DNA synthesis belong to a large family of structurally related proteins that are found in prokaryotes, archaea, and eukaryotes. Phylogenetic analysis of these proteins suggests that they can be subdivided broadly into four groups typified by Escherichia coli UmuC, E. coli DinB, Saccharomyces