Cell size distributions in lineages

Cells actively regulate their size during the cell cycle to maintain volume homeostasis across generations. While various mathematical models of cell size regulation have been proposed to explain how this is achieved, relating these models to experimentally observed cell size distributions has prove...

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Main Authors: Kaan Öcal, Michael P. H. Stumpf
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: American Physical Society 2025-03-01
Series:Physical Review Research
Online Access:http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.013302
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author Kaan Öcal
Michael P. H. Stumpf
author_facet Kaan Öcal
Michael P. H. Stumpf
author_sort Kaan Öcal
collection DOAJ
description Cells actively regulate their size during the cell cycle to maintain volume homeostasis across generations. While various mathematical models of cell size regulation have been proposed to explain how this is achieved, relating these models to experimentally observed cell size distributions has proved challenging. In this paper we present a simple formula for the cell size distribution in lineages as observed in, e.g., a mother machine, and provide a new derivation for the corresponding result in populations, assuming exponential cell growth. Our results are independent of the underlying cell size control mechanism and explain the characteristic shape underlying experimentally observed cell size distributions. We furthermore derive universal moment identities for these distributions and show that our predictions agree well with experimental measurements of E. coli cells, both on the distribution and the moment level.
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spelling doaj-art-209c295326a1437da9cf2c6786e5c4d22025-08-20T03:44:14ZengAmerican Physical SocietyPhysical Review Research2643-15642025-03-017101330210.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.013302Cell size distributions in lineagesKaan ÖcalMichael P. H. StumpfCells actively regulate their size during the cell cycle to maintain volume homeostasis across generations. While various mathematical models of cell size regulation have been proposed to explain how this is achieved, relating these models to experimentally observed cell size distributions has proved challenging. In this paper we present a simple formula for the cell size distribution in lineages as observed in, e.g., a mother machine, and provide a new derivation for the corresponding result in populations, assuming exponential cell growth. Our results are independent of the underlying cell size control mechanism and explain the characteristic shape underlying experimentally observed cell size distributions. We furthermore derive universal moment identities for these distributions and show that our predictions agree well with experimental measurements of E. coli cells, both on the distribution and the moment level.http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.013302
spellingShingle Kaan Öcal
Michael P. H. Stumpf
Cell size distributions in lineages
Physical Review Research
title Cell size distributions in lineages
title_full Cell size distributions in lineages
title_fullStr Cell size distributions in lineages
title_full_unstemmed Cell size distributions in lineages
title_short Cell size distributions in lineages
title_sort cell size distributions in lineages
url http://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevResearch.7.013302
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