Evolutionary Conflict Leads to Innovation: Symmetry Breaking in a Spatial Model of RNA-Like Replicators.

ABSTRACT: Molecules that replicate in trans are vulnerable to evolutionary extinction because they decrease the catalysis of replication to become more available as a template for replication. This problem can be alleviated with higher-level selection that clusters molecules of the same phenotype, favouring those groups that contain more catalysis. Here, we study a simple replicator model with implicit higher-level selection through space. We ask whether the functionality of such system can be enhanced when molecules reproduce through complementary replication, representing RNA-like replicators. For high diffusion, symmetry breaking between complementary strands occurs: one strand becomes a specialised catalyst and the other a specialised template. In ensemble, such replicators can modulate their ca

SUBMITTER: von der Dunk SHA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5745556 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature