Phylogeny of DNA Polymerase-β

Abstract

Analyses of various organisms for DNA polymerase-beta activity show that the enzyme is widely distributed in cells from multicellular animals but absent in bacteria, plants, and protozoa. These results suggest that DNA polymerase-beta may have evolved with the development of metazoan forms. Further evolutionary changes of the enzyme protein may account for some of the minor differences in properties of the enzyme in various organisms.