A stochastic model of autocatalytic reaction networks

作者：Filisetti Alessandro^*; Graudenzi Alex; Serra Roberto; Villani Marco; Fuechslin Rudolf M; Packard Norman; Kauffman Stuart A; Poli Irene

来源：Theory in Biosciences, 2012, 131(2): 85-93.

DOI：10.1007/s12064-011-0136-x

• Catalytic reaction networks
• Autocatalytic sets of molecules
• Complex systems biology
• Origin of life

Autocatalytic cycles are rather widespread in nature and in several theoretical models of catalytic reaction networks their emergence is hypothesized to be inevitable when the network is or becomes sufficiently complex. Nevertheless, the emergence of autocatalytic cycles has been never observed in wet laboratory experiments. Here, we present a novel model of catalytic reaction networks with the explicit goal of filling the gap between theoretical predictions and experimental findings. The model is based on previous study of Kauffman, with new features in the introduction of a stochastic algorithm to describe the dynamics and in the possibility to increase the number of elements and reactions according to the dynamical evolution of the system. Furthermore, the introduction of a temporal threshold allows the detection of cycles even in our context of a stochastic model with asynchronous update. In this study, we describe the model and present results concerning the effect on the overall dynamics of varying (a)

• 出版日期2012-6