

Preprint 90/2002
Molecular Replicator Dynamics
Bärbel M. R. Stadler and Peter F. Stadler
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Submission date: 08. Oct. 2002
Pages: 32
published in: Advances in complex systems, 6 (2003) 1, p. 47-77
DOI number (of the published article): 10.1142/S0219525903000724
Bibtex
Keywords and phrases: self-replication, ligation, autocatalytic network, quasispecies, hypercyle, replicator equation,, chemical kinetics, emergence
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Abstract:
Template-dependent replication at the molecular level is the basis of
reproduction in nature. A detailed understanding of the peculiarities of
the chemical reaction kinetics associated with replication processes is
therefore an indispensible prerequisite for any understanding of evolution
at the molecular level. Networks of interacting self-replicating species
can give rise to a wealth of different dynamical phenomena, from
competitive exclusion to permanent coexistence, from global stability to
multi-stability and chaotic dynamics. Nevertheless, there are some general
principles that govern their overall behavior.
We focus on the question to what extent the dynamics of replication can
explain the accumulation of genetic information that eventually leads to
the emergence of the first cell and hence the origin of life as we know it.
A large class of ligation based replication systems, which includes the
experimentally available model systems for template directed
self-replication, is of particular interest because its dynamics bridges
the gap between the survival of a single fittest species to the global
coexistence of everthing. In this intermediate regime the selection is weak
enough to allow the coexistence of genetically unrelated replicators and
strong enough to limit the accumulation of disfunctional mutants.