Attila Csikász-Nagy

Switch-like and oscillatory dynamical systems are widely observed in biology. We investigate the simplest biological switch that is composed of a single molecule that can be autocatalytically converted between two opposing activity forms. We propose that this single molecule system could work as a primitive biological sensor and show by steady state analysis of a mathematical model of the system that it could switch between possible states for changes in environmental signals. Particularly, we show that a single molecule phosphorylation-dephosphorylation switch could work as a nucleotide or energy sensor. We also notice that a given set of reductions in the reaction network can lead to the emergence of oscillatory behaviour. We propose that evolution could have converted this switch into a single molecule oscillator, which could have been used as a primitive timekeeper. I will discuss how the structure of the simplest known circadian clock regulatory system, found in cyanobacteria, resembles the proposed single molecule oscillator. Besides, I will speculate if such minimal systems could have existed in an RNA world. I will also present how the regulatory network of the cell cycle could have emerged from this system and what are the consequences of this possible evolution from a single antagonistic kinase-phosphatase network.