Thymine rather than uracil is used in DNA due to specific evolutionary selection pressures
the verdict
SUPPORTED
the evidence backs this
confidence 75/100
Thymine is used in DNA rather than uracil because spontaneous cytosine deamination continually generates uracil in genetic material, creating a mutagenic threat that evolutionary selection pressures resolved by employing thymine for stable information storage.
Evidence for · 3
Generation, biological consequences and repair mechanisms of cytosine deamination in DNA.
2009 · cited by 0
Discusses how uracil in DNA arises spontaneously from cytosine deamination and is treated as a mutagenic lesion that requires active repair.
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More for · 2
Keeping uracil out of DNA: physiological role, structure and catalytic mechanism of dUTPases.
2009 · cited by 0
Explains that the thymine-uracil exchange is a major chemical difference between DNA and RNA, where uracil incorporation is generally a mistake that needs to be excised.
A novel type of uracil-DNA glycosylase mediating repair of hydrolytic DNA damage in the extremely thermophilic eubacterium Thermus thermophilus.
2002 · cited by 0
Highlights that spontaneous hydrolytic deamination of cytosine creates a major mutational pressure that drove the evolution of dedicated DNA repair pathways targeting uracil.