The Ultimate (Mis)match: When DNA Meets RNA.
RNA-containing structures, including ribonucleotide insertions, DNA:RNA hybrids and R-loops, have recently emerged as critical players in the maintenance of genome integrity. Strikingly, different enzymatic activities classically involved in genome maintenance contribute to their generation, their processing into genotoxic or repair intermediates, or their removal. Here we review how this substrate promiscuity can account for the detrimental and beneficial impacts of RNA insertions during genome metabolism. We summarize how in vivo and in vitro experiments support the contribution of DNA polymerases and homologous recombination proteins in the formation of RNA-containing structures, and we discuss the role of DNA repair enzymes in their removal. The diversity of pathways that are thus affected by RNA insertions likely reflects the ancestral function of RNA molecules in genome maintenance and transmission.
['Palancade|Benoit|B|0000-0002-3894-9735', 'Rothstein|Rodney|R|0000-0002-4107-9654']
D000818:Animals D004247:DNA D004260:DNA Repair D004261:DNA Replication D059765:Homologous Recombination D006801:Humans D000080870:R-Loop Structures D012313:RNA D014158:Transcription, Genetic
RNA ribonucleotide DNA:RNA hybrid R-loop DNA repair genetic recombination genetic stability transcription