How does bacteria protect their own DNA against restriction enzymes?

Answer 1

Through methylation of their own DNA.

This is a fascinating example of how evolution works! The restriction enzymes in bacteria function to defend themselves against invading viruses (bacteriophages). The DNA sequence the restriction enzymes recognize are present in the viral DNA but also in the DNA of the bacteria itself.

Bacteria prevent eating away their own DNA by masking the restriction sites with methyl groups (#CH_3#). Methylation of DNA is a common way to modify DNA function and bacterial DNA is highly methylated. In this case it functions to make the restriction sites unrecognizable for the restriction enzymes.

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Answer 2

Nicholas Ahn

Bacteria protect their own DNA against restriction enzymes by methylating specific nucleotide sequences within their DNA. This methylation prevents the restriction enzymes from recognizing and cutting these sequences, effectively protecting the bacterial DNA from digestion.

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Answer from HIX Tutor

When evaluating a one-sided limit, you need to be careful when a quantity is approaching zero since its sign is different depending on which way it is approaching zero from. Let us look at some examples.