Multispecies population dynamics of prebiotic compositional assemblies.

Area of Science:

• Origin of life studies
• Systems chemistry
• Theoretical biology

Background:

• Life exhibits molecular and population-level organization.
• Prebiotic models often focus on molecular evolution, neglecting supramolecular transitions.
• Understanding the link between molecular networks and emergent population dynamics is crucial for origin of life research.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore a prebiotic model that connects chemical interaction network parameters within molecular assemblies to emergent population dynamics.
• To investigate how molecular network properties influence assembly evolution and population dynamics.
• To simulate and analyze the behavior of molecular assemblies in a prebiotic context.

Main Methods:

• Utilized the graded autocatalysis replication domain (GARD) model to simulate network dynamics in amphiphile-containing molecular assemblies.
• Modeled compotype species exhibiting growth, division, and replication-like information propagation.
• Performed 1000 computer simulations with varying global chemical interaction network parameters.
• Analyzed simulation results using a multi-species logistic model (r-K or Lotka-Volterra competition model).

Main Results:

• Observed a wide range of emergent behaviors across 1000 simulations.
• Found that compotypes with larger intrinsic molecular repertoires exhibited higher intrinsic growth (r) and lower carrying capacity (K).
• Demonstrated that increased molecular repertoire size correlated with lower replication fidelity.

Conclusions:

• The findings support a prebiotic scenario where early molecular assemblies were diverse and fast-replicating.
• These assemblies likely evolved towards more faithful replicators with narrower molecular repertoires.
• The study provides a framework for relating molecular network parameters to evolutionary dynamics in early life.