Skip to main content
Fig. 10 | BMC Evolutionary Biology

Fig. 10

From: From molecular to cellular form: modeling the first major transition during the arising of life

Fig. 10

The natural emergence of protocells from the naked scene with REP and NSR thriving. The difference of this case from the case of Fig. 9 is that the protocells which are inoculated at step 6 × 106 are empty ones, and the rate of cytophagy is magnified by 100-fold (i.e., PCC = 1× 10− 5). a The dynamic plot. b Snapshots showing the appearance of the first protocell containing the two ribozymes (arrow) by cytophagy at the rocky region’s edge and the subsequent spread of such protocells in the solution region (note that the grid has a toroidal topology). Meanwhile, naked REP and NSR in the rocky region decrease and finally disappear. The half-transparent frame at the edge of a grid room represents the protocell membrane. Other symbols have the same meanings as the ones in Fig. 6b

Back to article page