General quantitative relations linking cell growth and the cell cycle in Escherichia coli.

Growth laws emerging from studies of cell populations provide essential constraints on the global mechanisms that coordinate cell growth. The foundation of bacterial cell cycle studies relies on two interconnected dogmas that were proposed more than 50 years ago-the Schaechter-Maaloe-Kjeldgaard growth law that relates cell mass to growth rate and Donachie's hypothesis of a growth-rate-independent initiation mass. These dogmas spurred many efforts to understand their molecular bases and physiological consequences.