Autocatalytic sets in polymer networks with variable catalysis distributions

DOI10.1007/S10910-016-0666-ZzbMATH Open1372.92124arXiv1605.03919OpenAlexW2363616503MaRDI QIDQ2399178FDOQ2399178

Mike Steel, Wim Hordijk

Publication date: 22 August 2017

Published in: Journal of Mathematical Chemistry (Search for Journal in Brave)

Abstract: All living systems -- from the origin of life to modern cells -- rely on a set of biochemical reactions that are simultaneously self-sustaining and autocatalytic. This notion of an autocatalytic set has been formalized graph-theoretically (as `RAF'), leading to mathematical results and polynomial-time algorithms that have been applied to simulated and real chemical reaction systems. In this paper, we investigate the emergence of autocatalytic sets in polymer models when the catalysis rate of each molecule type is drawn from some probability distribution. We show that although the average catalysis rate $f$ for RAFs to arise depends on this distribution, a universal linear upper and lower bound for $f$ (with increasing system size) still applies. However, the probability of the appearance (and size) of autocatalytic sets can vary widely, depending on the particular catalysis distribution. We use simulations to explore how tight the mathematical bounds are, and the reasons for the observed variations. We also investigate the impact of inhibition (where molecules can also inhibit reactions) on the emergence of autocatalytic sets, deriving new mathematical and algorithmic results.

Full work available at URL: https://arxiv.org/abs/1605.03919

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zbMATH Keywords

catalytic reaction systempolymer modelself-sustaining autocatalytic set

Mathematics Subject Classification ID

Statistical mechanics of polymers (82D60) Classical flows, reactions, etc. in chemistry (92E20)

Cites Work

• The emergence of a self-catalysing structure in abstract origin-of-life models
• Detecting autocatalytic, self-sustaining sets in chemical reaction systems
• Predicting template-based catalysis rates in a simple catalytic reaction model
• Random biochemical networks: the probability of self-sustaining autocatalysis
• Minimal autocatalytic networks
• Self-sustaining autocatalytic networks within open-ended reaction systems
• Autocatalytic sets and biological specificity

Cited In (3)

• An ecological framework for the analysis of prebiotic chemical reaction networks
• Autocatalytic confusion clarified
• The emergence of a self-catalysing structure in abstract origin-of-life models

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