Threshold Dynamics in Endosymbiotic Origins

Abstract

The endosymbiotic origin of mitochondria is well established, but the timing problem remains unresolved: why did stable mitochondrial endosymbiosis occur when it did, rather than earlier or later?

This project proposes a threshold-dynamics model in which endosymbiosis is treated as a phase transition preceded by many sub-threshold encounters between host and proto-endosymbiont lineages. Failed encounters, whether predatory, parasitic, or syntrophic, may leave measurable genomic residue through horizontal gene transfer. Over time, repeated encounters could reduce compatibility barriers until a stable integration threshold is crossed.

The model predicts temporal clustering of proteobacterial gene transfer into the host lineage before the endosymbiotic event, functional bias toward the future symbiotic interface, increasing complexity of transferred material as encounter dwell time increases, and rapid post-threshold integration after stable capture.

Fields and Methods

evolutionary biology, endosymbiosis, genomics, origin of eukaryotes, systems biology.

• phylogenomic reconstruction
• horizontal gene transfer marker design
• temporal uncertainty modeling
• functional enrichment analysis
• comparison with stochastic and selectionist alternatives

Collaborator Profile

Evolutionary biologists, phylogenomics researchers, endosymbiosis specialists, microbial evolution researchers, and computational biologists.

Validation Needed

• Audit the current endosymbiosis and phylogenomics literature.
• Define operational gene-transfer markers.
• Model temporal uncertainty around pre-threshold transfer.
• Test against stochastic and selectionist alternatives.

Publication Posture

This page is a collaboration abstract, not a peer-reviewed finding. The research question is public so qualified domain scholars can evaluate the hypothesis, methods, and evidence needed to develop it.