Modeling the impact of single-cell stochasticity and size control on the population growth rate in asymmetrically dividing cells.

ABSTRACT: Microbial populations show striking diversity in cell growth morphology and lifecycle; however, our understanding of how these factors influence the growth rate of cell populations remains limited. We use theory and simulations to predict the impact of asymmetric cell division, cell size regulation and single-cell stochasticity on the population growth rate. Our model predicts that coarse-grained noise in the single-cell growth rate λ decreases the population growth rate, as previously seen for symmetrically dividing cells. However, for a given noise in λ we find that dividing asymmetrically can enhance the population growth rate for cells with strong size control (between a "sizer" and an "adder"). To reconcile this finding with the abundance of symmetrically dividing organisms in nature,

SUBMITTER: Barber F 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8248971 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature