# Characterization of cell division control strategies through continuous rate models

## TL;DR

This paper investigates how E. coli bacteria control cell division, revealing a shift from the adder to sizer-like strategies depending on growth conditions, using experiments and continuous rate models.

## Contribution

It introduces a theoretical framework that explains different division control strategies and explores deviations from the adder model under glycerol growth conditions.

## Key findings

- E. coli exhibits sizer-like division control with glycerol as carbon source.
- Added size decreases with size at birth in sizer-like strategy.
- Noise in added size increases as the strategy shifts from adder to sizer.

## Abstract

Recent experiments have supported the Adder model for E. coli division control. This model posits that bacteria grow, on average, a fixed size before division. It also predicts decorrelation between the noise in the added size and the size at birth. Here we use new experiments and a theoretical approach based on continuous rate models to explore deviations from the adder strategy, specifically, the division control of E. coli growing with glycerol as carbon source. In this medium, the division strategy is sizer-like, which means that the added size decreases with the size at birth. We found that in a sizer-like strategy the mean added size decreases with the size at birth while the noise in added size increases. We discuss possible molecular mechanisms underlying this strategy, and propose a general model that encompasses the different division strategies.