Does base excision repair take place in prokaryotes?

Yes, base excision repair (BER) occurs in prokaryotes. This DNA repair mechanism is crucial for correcting small, non-helix-distorting base lesions caused by oxidative damage, deamination, or alkylation. Prokaryotic organisms, such as bacteria, possess the necessary enzymes for BER, including DNA glycosylases, which recognize and remove damaged bases, followed by further repair processes to restore the DNA's integrity.