Survival of Self-Replicating Molecules under Transient Compartmentalization with Natural Selection
The problem of the emergence and survival of self-replicating molecules in origin-of-life scenarios is plagued by the error catastrophe, which is usually escaped by considering effects of compartmentalization, as in the stochastic corrector model. By addressing the problem in a simple system compose...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
MDPI AG
2019-10-01
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| Series: | Life |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2075-1729/9/4/78 |
| Summary: | The problem of the emergence and survival of self-replicating molecules in origin-of-life scenarios is plagued by the error catastrophe, which is usually escaped by considering effects of compartmentalization, as in the stochastic corrector model. By addressing the problem in a simple system composed of a self-replicating molecule (a replicase) and a parasite molecule that needs the replicase for copying itself, we show that transient (rather than permanent) compartmentalization is sufficient to the task. We also exhibit a regime in which the concentrations of the two kinds of molecules undergo sustained oscillations. Our model should be relevant not only for origin-of-life scenarios but also for describing directed evolution experiments, which increasingly rely on transient compartmentalization with pooling and natural selection. |
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| ISSN: | 2075-1729 |