Reversibiliy and cell division dynamics of elongated Escherichia coli cells obtained at high pressure

We have studied the dynamics of cell division of a population of heterogeneous morphology of Escherichia coli cells obtained after the application of high hydrostatic pressure. We show that the elongated cells obtained at high pressure reversibly grow back to normal cells upon depressurization. We further show that the dynamics of cell division upon depressurization can not be described by the prevailing cell division models. To explain the division of cells, we develop a physically motivated model of cell division and solve it using both continuous time Markov chain process and individual-based simulation. We find that the model aptly reproduces experimental results for cell division of cells with heterogeneous morphology obtained at high pressure. Furthermore, we show that such a model also reproduces the dynamics of the division of cells growing under normal conditions, and therefore provides a universal picture of cell division of rod-shaped bacteria.