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Isolation and Characterization of Cyanobacterial Extracellular Vesicles
Published on: February 3, 2022
Coexistence and error propagation in pre-biotic vesicle models: a group selection approach
José F Fontanari1, Mauro Santos, Eörs Szathmáry
1Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 369, 13560-970 São Carlos SP, Brazil. fontanari@ifsc.usp.br
Journal of Theoretical Biology
|October 26, 2005
Summary
Group selection, implemented via vesicle selection, enables the coexistence of multiple distinct templates within a single compartment. This mechanism overcomes challenges posed by random drift and mutation, crucial for the evolution of complex life.
Area of Science:
- Evolutionary biology
- Origin of life studies
- Systems chemistry
Background:
- Compartmentalization is vital for early life evolution.
- Finite vesicle size poses challenges for template preservation due to drift and mutation.
- Drift alone can prevent the coexistence of different templates within a compartment.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate conditions for group selection to overcome drift and mutation.
- Determine how to maintain and ensure coexistence of distinct templates in vesicles.
- Explore the role of vesicle selection in primordial genetic systems.
Main Methods:
- Modeled group selection through vesicle survival probability dependent on template composition.
- Analyzed an infinite number of vesicles, each with finite templates.
- Derived and numerically iterated recursion equations for vesicle composition frequencies.
Main Results:
- Characterized the steady state of vesicle populations (quasispecies of vesicles).
- Identified mutation and group selection intensities allowing template coexistence.
- Found no fundamental impediment to coexistence of multiple template types within vesicles, limited only by vesicle capacity.
Conclusions:
- Vesicle selection is essential for compartmentalized primordial genetic systems.
- Group selection can overcome random drift and mutation pressure.
- Coexistence of diverse templates is possible under specific group selection conditions.
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