State

Base Pair Mismatch

The presence of an non-complementary base in double-stranded DNA (DNA mismatch) caused by spontaneous deamination of cytosine or adenine, mismatching during homologous recombination, small insertions or deletions, or errors in DNA replication. Multiple, sequential base pair mismatches lead to formation of heteroduplex DNA; (NUCLEIC ACID HETERODUPLEXES).