Models of prebiotic evolution
Scientific Research Institute for System Analysis, RAS
Nakhimovskiy pr., 36-1, Moscow, 117218 Russia
*e-mail: vgredko@gmail.com
Models of prebiotic evolution, investigated by the author, are characterized, namely 1) the quasispecies model, 2) the hypercycle model, and 3) the syser model. The quasispecies model was proposed by Manfred Eigen, this model describes an evolution of population of the RNA macromolecules that could encode hereditary information. During the reproduction of RNA molecules, the inherited information is copied. Errors in the copying process lead to RNA mutations. The evolution of such a population leads to the selection of a quasispecies. The quasispecies is such a distribution of RNA chains that include both the “best RNA” (i.e., reproducing at maximal speed) and similar RNA chains that differ slightly from this best RNA by mutational substitutions. The hypercycle model was proposed in the late 1970s by Manfred Eigen and Peter Schuster. The hypercycle includes both the RNA chains and chains of amino acids, which perform certain catalytic functions. Both types of chains form a system of cooperatively interacting macromolecules. The syser model was proposed by Vadim Ratner and Vladimir Shamin. The term syser is abbreviation from the SYstem of SElf- Reproduction. Sysers are closer to simplest organisms as compared with hypercycles. A syser includes the polynucleotide chain, replication enzyme, translation enzyme, and other enzymes/proteins. A stochastic correlator model is also outlined, which, like the syser model, characterizes a certain approach to real biological cells. The syser model and the stochastic correlator model are compared. The current study characterizes all the noted models. The brief mathematical description of the models and the main results of computer simulations corresponding to the models are presented.
