Small-molecule autocatalysis drives compartment growth, competition and reproduction.


Journal

Nature chemistry
ISSN: 1755-4349
Titre abrégé: Nat Chem
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101499734

Informations de publication

Date de publication:
07 Aug 2023
Historique:
received: 09 02 2022
accepted: 16 06 2023
medline: 8 8 2023
pubmed: 8 8 2023
entrez: 7 8 2023
Statut: aheadofprint

Résumé

Sustained autocatalysis coupled to compartment growth and division is a key step in the origin of life, but an experimental demonstration of this phenomenon in an artificial system has previously proven elusive. We show that autocatalytic reactions within compartments-when autocatalysis, and reactant and solvent exchange outpace product exchange-drive osmosis and diffusion, resulting in compartment growth. We demonstrate, using the formose reaction compartmentalized in aqueous droplets in an emulsion, that compartment volume can more than double. Competition for a common reactant (formaldehyde) causes variation in droplet growth rate based on the composition of the surrounding droplets. These growth rate variations are partially transmitted after selective division of the largest droplets by shearing, which converts growth-rate differences into differences in droplet frequency. This shows how a combination of properties of living systems (growth, division, variation, competition, rudimentary heredity and selection) can arise from simple physical-chemical processes and may have paved the way for the emergence of evolution by natural selection.

Identifiants

pubmed: 37550391
doi: 10.1038/s41557-023-01276-0
pii: 10.1038/s41557-023-01276-0
doi:

Types de publication

Journal Article

Langues

eng

Sous-ensembles de citation

IM

Subventions

Organisme : EC | EC Seventh Framework Programm | FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific Programme: 'Ideas ' Implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities (2007 to 2013))
ID : 294332
Organisme : EC | EC Seventh Framework Programm | FP7 Ideas: European Research Council (FP7-IDEAS-ERC - Specific Programme: 'Ideas ' Implementing the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities (2007 to 2013))
ID : 294332
Organisme : Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Research Agency)
ID : ANR-10-EQPX-34
Organisme : Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Research Agency)
ID : ANR-10-EQPX-09
Organisme : Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Research Agency)
ID : ANR-19-CE06-0010-01
Organisme : Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Research Agency)
ID : ANR-10-EQPX-09
Organisme : Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Research Agency)
ID : ANR-19-CE06-0010-01
Organisme : Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Research Agency)
ID : ANR-10-EQPX-09
Organisme : Agence Nationale de la Recherche (French National Research Agency)
ID : ANR-19-CE06-0010-01

Informations de copyright

© 2023. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited.

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Auteurs

Heng Lu (H)

Laboratoire de Biochimie, Chimie Biologie et Innovation, ESPCI Paris, Université PSL, Paris, France.

Alex Blokhuis (A)

Laboratoire de Biochimie, Chimie Biologie et Innovation, ESPCI Paris, Université PSL, Paris, France.

Rebecca Turk-MacLeod (R)

Laboratoire de Biochimie, Chimie Biologie et Innovation, ESPCI Paris, Université PSL, Paris, France.

Jayaprakash Karuppusamy (J)

Laboratoire de Biochimie, Chimie Biologie et Innovation, ESPCI Paris, Université PSL, Paris, France.

Andrea Franconi (A)

Laboratoire de Biochimie, Chimie Biologie et Innovation, ESPCI Paris, Université PSL, Paris, France.

Gabrielle Woronoff (G)

Laboratoire de Biochimie, Chimie Biologie et Innovation, ESPCI Paris, Université PSL, Paris, France.

Cyrille Jeancolas (C)

Laboratoire de Biochimie, Chimie Biologie et Innovation, ESPCI Paris, Université PSL, Paris, France.

Afshin Abrishamkar (A)

Laboratoire de Biochimie, Chimie Biologie et Innovation, ESPCI Paris, Université PSL, Paris, France.

Estelle Loire (E)

Institut de Chimie Physique, Université Paris-Saclay, Orsay, France.

Fabien Ferrage (F)

Laboratoire des Biomolécules, LBM, Département de chimie, École Normale Supérieure, Université PSL, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Paris, France.

Philippe Pelupessy (P)

Laboratoire des Biomolécules, LBM, Département de chimie, École Normale Supérieure, Université PSL, Sorbonne Université, CNRS, Paris, France.

Ludovic Jullien (L)

PASTEUR, Département de Chimie, École Normale Supérieure, Université PSL, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France.

Eörs Szathmary (E)

Centre for Ecological Research, Institute of Evolution, Budapest, Hungary. szathmary.eors@gmail.com.
Department of Plant Systematics, Ecology and Theoretical Biology, Eötvös University, Budapest, Hungary. szathmary.eors@gmail.com.
Parmenides Foundation, Center for the Conceptual Foundations of Science, Pöcking, Germany. szathmary.eors@gmail.com.
Konrad Lorenz Institute for Evolution and Cognition Research, Klosterneuburg, Austria. szathmary.eors@gmail.com.

Philippe Nghe (P)

Laboratoire de Biochimie, Chimie Biologie et Innovation, ESPCI Paris, Université PSL, Paris, France. philippe.nghe@espci.fr.
Laboratoire Biophysique et Evolution, Chimie Biologie et Innovation, ESPCI Paris, Université PSL, Paris, France. philippe.nghe@espci.fr.

Andrew D Griffiths (AD)

Laboratoire de Biochimie, Chimie Biologie et Innovation, ESPCI Paris, Université PSL, Paris, France. andrew.griffiths@espci.fr.

Classifications MeSH