Question

Which function is NOT an activity of RecA?

A. Normal recombination

B. Single strand-exchange of recombination-repair

C. Act as a nuclease, which directly cleaves LexA repressor

D. Induces latent protease activity in its target proteins

Answer 1

The activity not associated with RecA is acting as a nuclease that directly cleaves the LexA repressor. RecA induces latent protease activity but does not cleave LexA directly. Option C is correct.

Step-by-step explanation:

The function that is NOT an activity of RecA is option C. RecA does play several critical roles in bacterial cells, including fostering homologous recombination to repair double-stranded DNA breaks and mediating the single strand-exchange of recombination-repair.

In addition, RecA can induce auto-proteolysis of LexA repressor, but it does not cleave LexA directly, rather, it facilitates this process by inducing latent protease activity in its target proteins. RecA's role in DNA repair is evolutionarily conserved, with homologs like Rad51 in eukaryotes participating in similar pathways.