Relationship between size of parent at cell division and relative size of its progeny in Escherichia coli |
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Authors: | L J Koppes N B Grover |
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Institution: | (1) Section of Molecular Cytology, Department of Molecular Cell Biology, University of Amsterdam, NL-1018 TV Amsterdam, The Netherlands;(2) Hubert H. Humphrey Center for Experimental Medicine and Cancer Research, The Hebrew University Faculty of Medicine, P.O. Box 1172, 91010 Jerusalem, Israel |
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Abstract: | This article examines the empirical basis for the assumption of independence between the relative size (length or surface
area) of a newborn cell w and the absolute size of its mother at cell division. Random samples from two strains of Escherichia coli B/r cells in steady-state exponential growth, covering a range of doubling times, were fixed in osmium tetroxide and prepared
for electron microscopy by agar filtration. Length and diameter of over 3000 constricted cells were measured from the electron
micrographs and cell surface area computed by assuming an idealized geometry of right circular cylinders with hemispherical
polar caps. In general, these strains were found to divide into two daughter cells with a precision that is independent of
the size of the mother. In addition, both a normal and a symmetrical beta-distribution were shown to fit the observed size
distributions of w rather well; theoretical grounds for preferring the latter are discussed. |
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Keywords: | Escherichia coli Cell size distributions Septation site Mother daughter cell sizes Statistics (cell growth) |
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