Spatial aspects of prebiotic replicator coexistence and community stability in a surface-bound RNA world model

BMC Evolutionary Biology

Tamás Czárán¹  Balázs Könnyű² 

[1] Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Eötvös Loránd University Research Group in Theoretical Biology and Evolutionary Ecology, H-1117 Pázmány Péter sétány 1/c, Budapest, Hungary;Parmenides Foundation, Kirchplatz 1, D-82049 Munich/Pullach, Germany

关键词: Prebiotic genome size;    Metabolic model;    Parasite;    RNA world;    Coexistence;    Prebiotic replicators;   

Others  :  1085996
DOI  :  10.1186/1471-2148-13-204

 received in 2013-07-25, accepted in 2013-09-17,  发布年份 2013

【 摘 要 】

Background

The coexistence of macromolecular replicators and thus the stability of presumed prebiotic replicator communities have been shown to critically depend on spatially constrained catalytic cooperation among RNA-like modular replicators. The necessary spatial constraints might have been supplied by mineral surfaces initially, preceding the more effective compartmentalization in membrane vesicles which must have been a later development of chemical evolution.

Results

Using our surface-bound RNA world model – the Metabolic Replicator Model (MRM) platform – we show that the mobilities on the mineral substrate surface of both the macromolecular replicators and the small molecules of metabolites they produce catalytically are the key factors determining the stable persistence of an evolvable metabolic replicator community.

Conclusion

The effects of replicator mobility and metabolite diffusion on different aspects of replicator coexistence in MRM are determined, including the maximum attainable size of the metabolic replicator system and its resistance to the invasion of parasitic replicators. We suggest a chemically plausible hypothetical scenario for the evolution of the first protocell starting from the surface-bound MRM system.

【 授权许可】

   
2013 Könnyű and Czárán; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.

【 图 表 】

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