Figure 3.

Chemical dormancy with a catalyst. (A) Molecule $A$ only replicates when it is in an active state ($A_a$), but most individuals in the population exist in an inactive state ($A_i$). (B) Molecule $B$ is a catalyst that binds to $A$, triggering its activation and leading to increased replication. (C) If $B$ can also engage in dormancy, the activity and replication of $A$ will be greater where and when $B$ is active ($B_a$) as opposed to inactive ($B_i$). To meet the third criterion of chemical dormancy, we assume that inactive molecules are protected and thus decay more slowly than active molecules.