Fig. 4. SA/V dynamics are conserved across perturbations to cell morphology.

Shape growth curves of E. coli MG1655 cells treated with sub-lethal concentrations of cephalexin. Cephalexin causes a dose-dependent increase in cell length (a), accompanied by decreased cell width (b). The increased lengths and decreased widths precisely maintain SA/V for all conditions (c), suggesting that SA/V is robust to perturbations in cellular dimensions. The SA/V of the cell body (excluding the poles) was not maintained under cephalexin treatment (d), highlighting the importance of cell poles in regulating SA/V. Data points are mean ± S.D. with n > 200 cells. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.