Simple case of prebiotic evolution: vesicle populations can respond to selection for greater turbidity via emergent cooperative dynamics
Data files
Mar 09, 2026 version files 1.49 MB
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Fig3-data.xlsx
17 KB
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FR_inc.xlsx
206.22 KB
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FR-30min_log.xlsx
35.26 KB
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FR-5hr_log.xlsx
76.84 KB
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FR-90min_log.xlsx
36.28 KB
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FR1_log.xlsx
74.94 KB
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FR2_log.xlsx
56.48 KB
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FR3_log.xlsx
158.38 KB
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FU_inc.xlsx
40.32 KB
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FU1_log.xlsx
44.66 KB
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FU2_log.xlsx
44.67 KB
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FU3_log.xlsx
44.64 KB
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README.md
4.02 KB
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UR_inc.xlsx
104.41 KB
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UR1_log.xlsx
89.76 KB
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UR2_log.xlsx
57.09 KB
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UR3_log.xlsx
54.42 KB
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UU_inc.xlsx
68.13 KB
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UU-30min_log.xlsx
51.49 KB
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UU1_log.xlsx
84.79 KB
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UU2_log.xlsx
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UU3_log.xlsx
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Abstract
Adaptive evolution has long been hypothesized to be possible in the absence of genetic molecules, but experimental evidence remains lacking. Fatty acid vesicles represent an intriguing model to study the emergence of prebiotic evolution, since they can spontaneously grow and divide and have been hypothesized to be capable of non-genetic inheritance. In this study we conducted multiple experiments to test whether vesicle populations can respond to artificial selection for greater turbidity and, if so, whether that response can be tied to an inheritance-like mechanism. We prepared 96 independent vesicle populations, incubated them for 24 hours and then selected half the populations to propagate into the next generation. The populations to propagate were picked either randomly, representing drift controls, or were the populations with the greatest turbidity, representing selection. Population propagation involved resuspension, transfer into fresh buffer, feeding with an amphiphile stock, and then incubating for the next 24 hours. In three replicate experiments run for at least 10 generations, we observed consistently greater turbidity in selection lineages compared to drift, as well as a reduction in the heritability (i.e., the correlation between parent and offspring turbidities). We conducted additional experiments to evaluate whether this response to selection is caused by a simple carryover effect or reflects cooperative dynamics, where vesicles from the parental generation affect newly formed vesicles in the offspring generation. The response to selection is much lower if we omitted the resuspension step and/or if we did not feed transfers with amphiphiles but instead mixed them we pre-formed vesicles. Combined with imaging and other analyses of the resuspension and feeding process, these results suggest that cooperative vesicle dynamics occur, where a small number of intact vesicles from a parental generation alters the dynamics of new vesicle formation following food addition. Overall, this study represents the first experimental finding of a response to artificial selection in prebiotic chemistry.
Dataset DOI: 10.5061/dryad.fbg79cp99
Description of the data and file structure
Raw data for
Simple case of prebiotic evolution: vesicle populations can respond to selection for greater turbidity via emergent cooperative dynamics
Tymofii Sokolskyi, David Baum
Acronyms for experiment types used in this dataset are the same as in the manuscript:
FR = fed + resuspended
UR = unfed + resuspended
UU = unfed + unresuspended
FU = fed + unresuspended
FR-30min, UU-30min, FR-90min, FR-5hr correspond to experiments done with 30 min, 90 min and 5 hr generation duration respectively. If generation duration is unspecified in the filename it was 24 hrs.
- _log files are for selection experiments with drift and selection lineages. Specific files are: FR1_log.xlsx, FR2_log.xlsx, FR3_log.xlsx, FU1_log.xlsx, FU2_log.xlsx, FU3_log.xlsx, UR1_log.xlsx, UR2_log.xlsx, UR3_log.xlsx, UU-30min_log.xlsx, UU1_log.xlsx, UU2_log.xlsx, UU3_log.xlsx, FR-30min_log.xlsx, FR-5hr_log.xlsx, FR-90min_log.xlsx. Values from these files were used for Fig. 2,3 and 5. For simplicity, each file has 4 sheets:
- drdata - turbidity values for each well on the drift plate ordered from A1 to H12 for each generation in different columns, ordered starting from gen. 0. Each column is labeled with an experiment number, followed by G and generation number and then D for drift (e.g., 21G6D).
- seldata - turbidity values for each well on the selection plate ordered from A1 to H12 for each generation, ordered starting from gen. 0. Each column is labeled with an experiment number, followed by G and generation number and then S for selection (e.g., 21G6S).
- drcode - well map for how each transfer was done, which wells were donor and recipient respectively for each pair of drift generations. Each column is labeled with an experiment number, followed by G and generation number and then D for drift (e.g., 21G6D).
- selcode - well map for how each transfer was done, which wells were donor and recipient respectively for each pair of selection generations. Each column is labeled with an experiment number, followed by G and generation number and then S for selection (e.g., 21G6S).
Notes:
- for FR2 turbidity values for each well prior to amphiphile stock addition are provided (these columns have "PM" at the end of their titles);
- FR3 log file has 2 additional sheets that are structured the same way as drdata and seldata: drNR and selNR with Nile Red fluroescence values for drift and selection respectively;
- data sheets for all UR and UU experiments have columns with respective turbidities for the food vesicles prior to transfer for each generation (these columns have "-F" at the end of their titles);
- FR, FU, UR and UU logs 1-3 were used for Fig. 2;
- FR-30min, FR-90min, FR-5hr and UU-30min were experiments with 30 min, 90 min and 5 hr generation times respectively; the FR experiments are in Fig. 5, the UU experiment is in the Supplementary materials.
- _inc files are turbidity timecourses for each of the respective transfer experiments, used in Fig. 5 and Fig. S10. Specifically, these are: FR_inc.xlsx, FU_inc.xlsx, UR_inc.xlsx, UU_inc.xlsx corresponding to FR, FU, UR and UU timecourses respectively. These files contain 2 sheets each, labeled gen1 and gen2 corresponding to generation 1 and 2 respectively (FR also has gen0). Each sheet contains all of the raw output from the plate reader: the metadata of the analysis and a table with turbidity (A400 - absorbance at 400 nm) for each well. Each column of the table is a different well (labeled with the experiment acronym) and each row is different time of analysis in minutes and hours.
- Fig3-data.xlsx file contains raw data used to make Figure 3 in the manuscript - each sheet, labeled by analysis type, corresponds to a respective panel.