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Models of Prebiotic Evolution

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Abstract

The models of prebiotic evolution studied by the author are characterized: (1) the quasispecies model, (2) the hypercycle model, and (3) the syser model. The quasispecies model was proposed by Manfred Eigen. This model describes the evolution of a population of RNA macromolecules that can 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” (that is 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 RNA chains and amino acid chains, 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 of “system of self-reproduction.” A syser includes the polynucleotide chain, replication enzyme, translation enzyme, and other enzymes/proteins. Also noted is the stochastic-correlator model, which, like the syser model, characterizes a certain approach to real biological cells. The syser model and the stochastic correlator model are compared. This study characterizes all of the noted models. A brief mathematical description of the models and the main results of computer simulations corresponding to the models are presented.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The author is grateful to the referee and scientific editor for useful comments and recommendations that contributed to the improvement of the article.

Funding

This work was performed within the framework of the state assignment for research on the topic “Study of Neuromorphic Systems for the Processing of Large Amounts of Data and Technologies for Their Production” (project no. 0065-2019-0003).

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  1. Scientific Research Institute for System Analysis, Russian Academy of Sciences, 117218, Moscow, Russia

    V. G. Red’ko

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Correspondence to V. G. Red’ko.

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Translated by M. Batrukova

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Red’ko, V.G. Models of Prebiotic Evolution. Biol Bull Rev 11, 27–39 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S2079086421010072

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