Question

A cell with a radius of 1 µm has an exponential growth rate of 0.5 d-1, based upon assimilation of glucose. A cell with a very similar genome and metabolism and a radius of 100 µm is growing in the same habitat. If growth rate of both cells is limited by glucose uptake rate, predict the growth rate of the larger cell.

Answer 1

A cell with a radius of 1 µm has an exponential growth rate of 0.5 d-1, based upon assimilation of glucose. A cell with a very similar genome and metabolism and a radius of 100 µm is growing in the same habitat.

If growth rate of both cells is limited by glucose uptake rate, The other cell parameters were consistent with theoretical expectation and previous experience. With the exception of the glucose-limited cultures, cell density is roughly a linear function of the dilution rate. The case of glucose is more complex, reflecting relatively well understood changes in glucose metabolism at higher steady-state growth rates.

With large groups of cells with radius 100 µm that increase their expression with increasing growth rate, and comparably large groups decreasing their expression with increasing growth rate. In addition, there are much smaller clusters of cells with radius 1 µm that are expressed strongly in only one or two media; in general, these do not show as much relationship to growth rate. Fewer than 8% of the genes respond in a uniform, nutrient-specific manner