Cell cycle analysis
Cell cycle analysis of Escherichia coli cells
C period = the time for a round of chromosome replication
D period = the time between the end of a round of chromosome replication and cell division
- Determination of initiation age (ai) and C+D:
From flow cytometry analysis of cells treated with rifampicin and cephalexin (run-out histogram) the proportions of cells that had not initiated replication at the time of drug action (4-origin-cells, streaked) and cells that had initiated (8-origin-cells) can be estimated.The initiation age (ai) can be found from the theoretical age distribution described by this formula,
F = 2 - 2((τ-ai)/τ)
where F is the fraction of cells that had not initiated and τ is the generation time, or from the estimated graph of the theoretical age distribution (streaked portion).
The C+D period is estimated from the initiation age (ai), the generation time (τ) and the number of generations spanned per cell cycle.
Example:
4-origin-cells: 23 %
Generation time (τ): 27 min
Initiation age (ai): 5 min