Isolas of limit cycles and birhythmicity induced by cooperative feedback in a glycolysis model

Abstract

We investigate how cooperative feedback shapes global oscillatory dynamics in a glycolysis model with product recycling and allosteric phosphofructokinase regulation. Using bifurcation theory and numerical continuation, we analyze the stability of equilibria and characterize Hopf and generalized Hopf bifurcations, using the Hill exponent as an effective measure of cooperativity. We show that a codimension-2 cusp-of-cycles point governs the creation and annihilation of detached branches of limit cycles (isolas) and, together with saddle-node bifurcations of limit cycles, organizes a regime map of six qualitatively distinct dynamical regions. In the birhythmic regime two stable oscillatory states coexist on connected branches; in the isola regime a stable oscillation exists on a fully disconnected branch, producing threshold-dependent onset of rhythmic activity. Time-domain simulations confirm coexistence of distinct rhythms and illustrate how the choice of initial condition determines which attractor is reached. Together, these results show how variations in cooperative feedback strength can generate isolated oscillatory modes and multistability in metabolic networks, highlighting isola dynamics as a general mechanism for rhythm selection and switching in nonlinear biological oscillators.