Most cells must grow before they can divide, but it is not known how cells
determine when they have grown enough so they can commit to a new round of cell
division. Several parameters affect the timing of initiation of division: cell
size at birth, the size cells have to reach when they commit to division, and
how fast they reach that size. We report that Saccharomyces
cerevisiae mutants in metabolic and biosynthetic pathways differ in
these variables, controlling the timing of initiation of cell division in
various ways. Some mutants affect the size at birth, size at initiation of
division, the rate of increase in size, or any combination of the above.
Furthermore, we show that adenylate kinase, encoded by ADK1, is
a significant determinant of the efficiency of size control mechanisms. Finally,
our data argue strongly that the cell size at division is not necessarily a
function of the rate cells increase in size in the G1 phase of the cell cycle.
Taken together, these findings reveal an unexpected diversity in the G1 cell
cycle phenotypes of metabolic and biosynthetic mutants, suggesting that growth
requirements for cell division are multiple, distinct and imposed throughout the
G1 phase of the cell cycle.
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