All life, including cells and artificial protocells, must integrate diverse molecules into a single unit inorder to reproduce. Despite expected pressure to evolve a simple system with the fastest replication speed, themechanism by which the use of a great variety of components, and the coexistence of diverse cell-types withdifferent compositions are achieved is as yet unknown.Results:Here we show that coexistence of such diverse compositions and cell-types is the result of competitions for avariety of limited resources. We find that a transition to diversity occurs both in chemical compositions and in protocelltypes, as the resource supply is decreased, when the maximum inflow and consumption of resources are balanced.Conclusions:Our results indicate that a simple physical principle of competition for a variety of limiting resourcescan be a strong driving force to diversify intracellular dynamics of a catalytic reaction network and to develop diverseprotocell types in a primitive stage of life.

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• Transition to diversification by competition formultiple resources in catalytic reaction networks