title: Maximal gene number maintainable by stochastic correction - The second error threshold.
abstract: There is still no general solution to Eigen׳s Paradox, the chicken-or-egg problem of the origin of life: neither accurate copying, nor long genomes could have evolved without one another being established beforehand. But an array of small, individually replicating genes might offer a workaround, provided that multilevel selection assists the survival of the ensemble. There are two key difficulties that such a system has to overcome: the non-synchronous replication of genes, and their random assortment into daughter cells (the units of higher-level selection) upon fission. Here we find, using the Stochastic Corrector Model framework, that a large number (τ≥90) of genes can coexist. Furthermore, the system can tolerate about 10% replication rate asymmetry (competition) among the genes. On this basis, we put forward a plausible (and testable!) scenario for how novel genes could have been incorporated into early living systems: a route to complex metabolism.
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Eötvös University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary. Electronic address: hubaiandras@gmail.com.
authors.forename: András G
authors.initials: AG
authors.lastname: Hubai
authors.affiliation: Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Eötvös University, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, H-1117 Budapest, Hungary; MTA-ELTE-MTM Ecology Research Group, Pázmány Péter sétány 1/C, 1117 Budapest, Hungary; Parmenides Centre for the Conceptual Foundation of Science, Kirchplatz 1, D-82049 Munich/Pullach, Germany. Electronic address: kunadam@elte.hu.
authors.forename: Ádám
authors.initials: Á
authors.lastname: Kun
mesh_terms: D002470:Cell Survival; D004261:DNA Replication / Q000235:genetics; D018628:Gene Dosage; D014644:Genetic Variation; D008957:Models, Genetic; D013269:Stochastic Processes
keywords: Coexistence; Origin of life; RNA world; Stochastic Corrector Model