Relationship between size of parent at cell division and relative size of its progeny in Escherichia coli

L. J. Koppes*, N. B. Grover

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

6 Scopus citations

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.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)402-405
Number of pages4
JournalArchives of Microbiology
Volume157
Issue number5
DOIs
StatePublished - May 1992

Keywords

  • Cell size distributions
  • daughter cell sizes
  • Escherichia coli
  • Mother
  • Septation site
  • Statistics (cell growth)

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Relationship between size of parent at cell division and relative size of its progeny in Escherichia coli'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this