Abstract
Most organisms possess three biological oscillators, circadian clock, cell cycle, and redox rhythm, which are autonomous but interact each other. However, whether their interactions and autonomy are beneficial for organisms remains unclear. Here, we modeled a coupled oscillator system where each oscillator affected the phase of the other oscillators. We found that multiple types of coupling prevent a high H(2)O(2) level in cells at M phase. Consequently, we hypothesized a high H(2)O(2) sensitivity at the M phase and found that moderate coupling reduced cell damage due to oxidative stress by generating appropriate phase relationships between three rhythms, whereas strong coupling resulted in an elevated cell damage by increasing the average H(2)O(2) level and disrupted the cell cycle. Furthermore, the multicellularity model revealed that phase variations among cells confer flexibility in synchronization with environments at the expense of adaptability to the optimal environment. Thus, both autonomy and synchrony among the oscillators are important for coordinating their phase relationships to minimize oxidative stress, and couplings balance them depending on environments.