Global genome and transcription-coupled nucleotide excision repair pathway in prokaryotes

In all cells—from bacteria to humans—nucleotide excision repair (NER) is a highly conserved, versatile DNA repair pathway that is responsible for the removal of a wide variety of DNA helix-distorting lesions arising from both endogenous and exogenous sources. In many organisms including bacteria, fungi, animals, and plants, NER occurs through two sub-pathways: the global genome NER (GG-NER) pathway and the transcription-coupled NER (TC-NER) pathway. Although essential factors and basic steps involved in NER have been identified, mechanisms and stages of their assembly process are not well understood. In this review, we summarize recent literature about protein interaction networks that manifest during initial stages of bacterial NER pathway while highlighting some of the key functional studies.