Sustainable Growth and Synchronization in Protocell Models

Area of Science:

• Origin of Life Research
• Systems Chemistry
• Theoretical Biology

Background:

• Protocell growth necessitates synchronized replication of genetic material and cell division.
• Standard Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE)-based models often exhibit spontaneous synchronization, but this fails with quadratic growth terms.

Purpose of the Study:

• To investigate mechanisms that restore synchronization in protocell growth models with quadratic terms.
• To analyze the behavior of binary polymer models in growing and dividing protocells.
• To identify factors critical for synchronized protocell duplication.

Main Methods:

• Development and analysis of dynamic protocell growth models.
• Inclusion of finite transmembrane precursor diffusion rates.
• Introduction of finite molecular complex lifetimes.
• Examination of binary polymer models within protocell simulations.

Main Results:

• Finite precursor diffusion rates or finite molecular complex lifetimes restore spontaneous synchronization in protocell growth.
• Dynamic models reveal phenomena like long-term oscillations in duplication times.
• Complex autocatalytic cycles do not guarantee synchronization; subcycles may fail to synchronize or die out.

Conclusions:

• Finite rates in precursor diffusion and molecular complex turnover are essential for synchronized protocell duplication.
• Dynamic modeling is crucial for understanding emergent behaviors in protocell systems, surpassing static analyses.
• Autocatalytic cycles alone are insufficient for robust synchronization in complex protocell systems.