Final answer:
Option (A), In eukaryotic base excision repair (BER), long patch repair replaces 2-10 nucleotides, while a short patch repair replaces 1 nucleotide.
Step-by-step explanation:
In eukaryotic base excision repair (BER), long patch repair replaces 2-10 nucleotides, and short patch repair replaces 1 nucleotide. Therefore, the correct option is A. 2-10; 1. This type of DNA repair mechanism is critical in correcting damage to a single nucleotide caused by various factors such as oxidation or alkylation. The frequency of such repairs, particularly in the aging cells of older adults, can exceed 2000 repair events per cell. The fact that most of the eukaryotic genome does not encode genes or even regulatory DNA, which would result in more serious damage, makes this repair mechanism generally efficient and without severe consequences.
Biology students may find it interesting that prokaryotic cells, such as Escherichia coli, can replicate their genomes much faster than eukaryotes, at a rate of approximately 1000 nucleotides per second, while eukaryotic replication happens at a rate of about 100 nucleotides per second. Nevertheless, eukaryotic cells manage to replicate their much larger genomes efficiently thanks to features like multiple origins of replication. However, due to its complexity, the repair process and replication rate in eukaryotic cells, like those of humans or yeast, are a topic of significant importance in the field of genetics and cellular biology.