Adder and a coarse-grained approach to cell size homeostasis in bacteria. (February 2016)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Sauls, John T; Li, Dongyang; Jun, Suckjoon
• Is Part Of: Current opinion in cell biology. Volume 38(2016)
• Page Start: 38
• Page End: 44
• Publication Date: 2016-02
• Subjects: Cells -- Periodicals; Cytology -- Periodicals; Cell Biology -- Periodicals; Biology -- Periodicals; Cells -- Periodicals; Review Literature -- Periodicals; Cell Biology; Biology; Cells; Review Literature; Cellules -- Périodiques; Cytologie -- Périodiques; Electronic journals; 571.6
• DOI: 10.1016/j.ceb.2016.02.004
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0955-0674

Abstract

Abstract : Cell size control and homeostasis is a long-standing subject in biology. Recent experimental work provides extensive evidence for a simple, quantitative size homeostasis principle coined adder (as opposed to sizer or timer). The adder principle provides unexpected insights into how bacteria maintain their size without employing a feedback mechanism. We review the genesis of adder and recent cell size homeostasis study on evolutionarily divergent bacterial organisms and beyond. We propose new coarse-grained approaches to understand the underlying mechanisms of cell size control at the whole cell level.