Location: Fields Institute , 222 College Street, Toronto

November 28, 2008- 3:30 p.m.
Matthew Scott
University of Waterloo

Growth laws and mechanisms of global control in bacteria
(audio and slides of talk)

The growth laws of Schaechter, Maaløe and Kjeldgaard are among the most striking discoveries in bacterial growth physiology. They found that cell composition (mass/cell, RNA/cell, etc.) is a simple function of growth rate alone – irrespective of how that growth rate is established. I will review the growth laws, and discuss recent experiments that have uncovered new laws. A phenomenological model is proposed that suggests the growth laws arise from the partitioning of the protein synthesizing machinery of the cell (the ribosomes), and furthermore indicates a deep connection between growth rate control and central metabolism. The impact of global control mechanisms on endogenous and synthetic genetic circuitry will be considered.