Replication of Simulated Prebiotic Amphiphilic Vesicles in a Finite Environment Exhibits Complex Behavior That Includes High Progeny Variability and Competition.

ABSTRACT: We studied the simulated replication and growth of prebiotic vesicles composed of 140 phospholipids and cholesterol using our R-GARD (Real Graded Autocatalysis Replication Domain) formalism that utilizes currently extant lipids that have known rate constants of lipid-vesicle interactions from published experimental data. R-GARD normally modifies kinetic parameters of lipid-vesicle interactions based on vesicle composition and properties. Our original R-GARD model tracked the growth and division of one vesicle at a time in an environment with unlimited lipids at a constant concentration. We explore here a modified model where vesicles compete for a finite supply of lipids. We observed that vesicles exhibit complex behavior including initial fast unrestricted growth, followed by intervesicle

SUBMITTER: Armstrong DL 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5910049 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature