title: The emergence of competition between model protocells.
abstract: The transition from independent molecular entities to cellular structures with integrated behaviors was a crucial aspect of the origin of life. We show that simple physical principles can mediate a coordinated interaction between genome and compartment boundary, independent of any genomic functions beyond self-replication. RNA, encapsulated in fatty acid vesicles, exerts an osmotic pressure on the vesicle membrane that drives the uptake of additional membrane components, leading to membrane growth at the expense of relaxed vesicles, which shrink. Thus, more efficient RNA replication could cause faster cell growth, leading to the emergence of Darwinian evolution at the cellular level.
authors.affiliation: Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Department of Molecular Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.
authors.forename: Irene A
authors.initials: IA
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.forename: Richard W
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Roberts
authors.forename: Jack W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Szostak
mesh_terms: D005075:Biological Evolution; D002468:Cell Physiological Phenomena; D005227:Fatty Acids; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated; D031541:Fluorescence Resonance Energy Transfer; D016678:Genome; D008081:Liposomes; D019301:Oleic Acid; D009997:Osmotic Pressure; D012313:RNA / Q000378:metabolism; D012343:RNA, Transfer
chemical_list: D005227:Fatty Acids; D005229:Fatty Acids, Monounsaturated; D008081:Liposomes; D019301:Oleic Acid; D012313:RNA; D012343:RNA, Transfer; C054211:9-tetradecenoic acid