Table 2.

Consequences of ribonucleotide misincorporation. Summary of studies showing negative or positive roles for ribonucleotide misincorporation.

Consequences of ribonucleotide misincorporation

Negative

Increased mutation rate (2,3,9,22,37,41)

Increased chromosomal abnormality (10,11,45)

Replication fork barrier (3,21,22)

Autoimmune disease in humans (12,49–51)

Embryonic lethal in mammals (10,11)

Cancer development?

Positive

Nascent strand discrimination to facilitate mismatch repair (4,64,65)

Mating type switching in S. pombe (56)

NHEJ pathway with Polμ (58–60)