Stoichiometric network analysis in reaction networks yielding spontaneous mirror symmetry breaking in a prebiotic atmosphere

Abstract

The generation of amino acid homochirality under prebiotic atmosphere conditions is a relevant issue in the study of the origin of life. This research is based on the production of amino acids via Strecker synthesis and how it is adjusted to the Kondepudi–Nelson autocatalytic model. The spontaneous mirror symmetry breaking (SMSB) of the new Kondepudi–Nelson–Strecker model, subject to two modifications (with Limited Enantioselective and Cross Inhibition), and also their combination were studied using the stoichiometric network analysis (SNA). In the calculations, the values obtained from the literature for alanine were considered. A total production of alanine of 7.56 × 10⁹ mol year⁻¹ was determined under prebiotic atmosphere conditions and starting from that value, the reaction rates for the models studied were estimated. Only the model with cross inhibition or achiral dimer formation is driven by stochastic fluctuations during SMSB. The stochastic fluctuation was estimated for a value of 2.619 × 10⁻¹⁵ mol L⁻¹. This perturbation was sufficient to trigger SMSB. Finally, the results of SMSB were used to calculate the entropy production for the cross inhibition model.