Eur. Phys. J. B 47, 423-429 (2005)
https://doi.org/10.1140/epjb/e2005-00346-5

Template coexistence in prebiotic vesicle models

Instituto de Física de São Carlos, Universidade de São Paulo, Caixa Postal 369, 13560-970 São Carlos, São Paulo, Brazil

Corresponding author: ^a fontanari@ifsc.usp.br

Received: 25 May 2005
Revised: 26 July 2005
Published online: 28 October 2005

Abstract

The coexistence of distinct templates is a common feature of the diverse proposals advanced to resolve the information crisis of prebiotic evolution. However, achieving robust template coexistence turned out to be such a difficult demand that only a class of models, the so-called package models, seems to have met it so far. Here we apply Wright's Island formulation of group selection to study the conditions for the coexistence of two distinct template types confined in packages (vesicles) of finite capacity. In particular, we show how selection acting at the level of the vesicles can neutralize the pressures towards the fixation of any one of the template types (random drift) and of the type with higher replication rate (deterministic competition). We give emphasis to the role of the distinct generation times of templates and vesicles as yet another obstacle to coexistence.