Differential growth regulates asymmetric size partitioning in Caulobacter crescentus.

Abstract

Cell size regulation has been extensively studied in symmetrically dividing cells, but the mechanisms underlying the control of size asymmetry in asymmetrically dividing bacteria remain elusive. Here, we examine the control of asymmetric division in Caulobacter crescentus, a bacterium that produces daughter cells with distinct fates and morphologies upon division. Through comprehensive analysis of multi-generational growth and shape data, we uncover a tightly regulated cell size partitioning mechanism. We find that errors in division site positioning are promptly corrected early in the division cycle through differential growth. Our analysis reveals a negative feedback between the size of daughter cell compartments and their growth rates, wherein the larger compartment grows slower to achieve a homeostatic size partitioning ratio at division. To explain these observations, we propose a mechanistic model of differential growth, in which equal amounts of growth regulators are partitioned into daughter cell compartments of unequal sizes and maintained over time via size-independent synthesis.