Abstract
The cell cycle duration is a variable cellular phenotype that underlies long-term population growth and age structures. By analyzing the stationary solutions of a branching process with heritable cell division times, we demonstrate the existence of a phase transition, which can be continuous or first order, by which a nonzero fraction of the population becomes localized at a minimal division time. Just below the transition, we demonstrate the coexistence of localized and delocalized age-structure phases and the power law decay of correlation functions. Above it, we observe the self-synchronization of cell cycles, collective divisions, and the slow “aging” of population growth rates.
- Received 7 April 2020
- Accepted 27 October 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1103/PhysRevLett.125.268103
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