Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34153030›Full record

ArticlePLoS computational biology2021

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

Felix Barber, Jiseon Min, Andrew W Murray, Ariel Amir

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PLoS computational biology, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
8citing papers in PubMed
0.6field-weighted citation impact, top 33% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

8 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Article
  2. Article
  3. Nonlinear memory in cell-division dynamics across species.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025
    Article
  4. Evolutionary Advantage of Cell Size Control.Physical review letters · 2025
    Article
  5. Article
  6. Review
  7. Article
  8. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Felix BarberDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0003-1252-5181
Jiseon MinDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0002-1025-7761
Andrew W MurrayDepartment of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America.ORCID 0000-0002-0868-6604
Ariel AmirJohn A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States of America.
Harvard University · US

Funding

FEEDBACK CONTROL OF THE CELL CYCLER01GM043987 · NIGMS · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SAN FRANCISCO · PI MURRAY, ANDREW W · 1990 to 2023
$6.4M
NIGMS NIH HHS R01 GM043987
6 · The paper itself

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, we propose that additional constraints on cell growth and division must be present which are not included in our model, and we explore the effects of selected extensions thereof. Further, we find that within our model, epigenetically inherited generation times may arise due to size control in asymmetrically dividing cells, providing a possible explanation for recent experimental observations in budding yeast. Taken together, our findings provide insight into the complex effects generated by non-canonical growth morphologies.

Indexed as

Models, BiologicalAsymmetric Cell DivisionComputational BiologyComputer SimulationMicrobiological PhenomenaSaccharomycetalesStochastic Processes

Identifiers

PMID34153030
PMCPMC8248971
OpenAlexW3173689726

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.