A stochastic model of cell division (with application to fission yeast) (Q1088944)

During steady-state asynchronous growth and division of cells in culture, there is considerable variation in the size of age of cells at division. We attribute this variability to stochastic fluctuations in the rates of synthesis and degradation of a division-activator protein. We show that the probability density functions for size and age at division are approximately gaussian with means and variances specified in terms of N (the total number of activator molecules in a dividing cell), \(\lambda\) (the first-order rate constant for activator degradation), and r (the specific growth rate of the cells). By comparing theoretical distributions with experimental histograms for dividing yeast cells, we conclude that in fission yeast \(N\cong 220\) and \(\lambda\) /r\(\cong 8\).