ISSN:
1432-1416
Keywords:
Cell cycle
;
size distribution
;
generation time distribution
;
transition probability model
Source:
Springer Online Journal Archives 1860-2000
Topics:
Biology
,
Mathematics
Notes:
Abstract Probabilistic models of the cell cycle maintain that cell generation time is a random variable given by some distribution function, and that the probability of cell division per unit time is a function only of cell age (and not, for instance, of cell size). Given the probability density, f(t), for time spent in the random compartment of the cell cycle, we derive a recursion relation for φ n(x), the probability density for cell size at birth in a sample of cells in generation n. For the case of exponential growth of cells, the recursion relation has no steady-state solution. For the case of linear cell growth, we show that there exists a unique, globally asymptotically stable, steady-state birth size distribution, φ *(x). For the special case of the transition probability model, we display φ *(x) explicitly.
Type of Medium:
Electronic Resource
URL:
http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/BF00276546
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