Evolutionary Conflict Leads to Innovation: Symmetry Breaking in a Spatial Model of RNA-Like Replicators
Theoretical Biology and Bioinformatics, Utrecht University, 3584 CH Utrecht, The Netherlands
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Life 2017, 7(4), 43; https://doi.org/10.3390/life7040043
Received: 28 September 2017
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Revised: 27 October 2017
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Accepted: 30 October 2017
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Published: 2 November 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue The RNA World and the Origin of Life)
Molecules that replicate in trans are vulnerable to evolutionary extinction because they decrease the catalysis of replication to become more available as a template for replication. This problem can be alleviated with higher-level selection that clusters molecules of the same phenotype, favouring those groups that contain more catalysis. Here, we study a simple replicator model with implicit higher-level selection through space. We ask whether the functionality of such system can be enhanced when molecules reproduce through complementary replication, representing RNA-like replicators. For high diffusion, symmetry breaking between complementary strands occurs: one strand becomes a specialised catalyst and the other a specialised template. In ensemble, such replicators can modulate their catalytic activity depending on their environment, thereby mitigating the conflict between levels of selection. In addition, these replicators are more evolvable, facilitating survival in extreme conditions (i.e., for higher diffusion rates). Our model highlights that evolution with implicit higher-level selection—i.e., as a result of local interactions and spatial patterning—is very flexible. For different diffusion rates, different solutions to the selective conflict arise. Our results support an RNA World by showing that complementary replicators may have various ways to evolve more complexity.
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Keywords:
RNA world; division of labour; symmetry breaking; catalysis; spatial model; higher-level selection; multilevel evolution
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MDPI and ACS Style
Von der Dunk, S.H.A.; Colizzi, E.S.; Hogeweg, P. Evolutionary Conflict Leads to Innovation: Symmetry Breaking in a Spatial Model of RNA-Like Replicators. Life 2017, 7, 43. https://doi.org/10.3390/life7040043
AMA Style
Von der Dunk SHA, Colizzi ES, Hogeweg P. Evolutionary Conflict Leads to Innovation: Symmetry Breaking in a Spatial Model of RNA-Like Replicators. Life. 2017; 7(4):43. https://doi.org/10.3390/life7040043
Chicago/Turabian StyleVon der Dunk, Samuel H.A., Enrico S. Colizzi, and Paulien Hogeweg. 2017. "Evolutionary Conflict Leads to Innovation: Symmetry Breaking in a Spatial Model of RNA-Like Replicators" Life 7, no. 4: 43. https://doi.org/10.3390/life7040043
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