Shape-dependent bounds on cell growth rates — mentioned by efavdb

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 13:32:27 GMT

FWIW I wrote a paper on nutrient-limited growth rates of cells and how that depends on their shape. one of the interesting findings was that elongated cells can grow exponentially quickly (as observed) while spheres quickly max out. https://arxiv.org/abs/1312.0674

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Shape-dependent bounds on cell growth rates — mentioned by efavdb

Thu, 23 Jun 2022 23:37:43 GMT

I happened to write a paper on just this issue (shameless plug)! You're right: With a sphere, the metabolic consumption grows like R^3 but nutrient capture goes like the surface area, which scales like R^2. The result is a max radius R where nutrient in can support the consumption. However, for long thin object, both the volume and area grow like L, the length. The result is that -- rather than plateauing to a finite limit -- a long thin bacterium can actually maintain exponential growth indefinitely! and that is what is actually seen in the lab. https://arxiv.org/pdf/1312.0674.pdf

Paper and discussion history. A mention is not an endorsement.

Shape-dependent bounds on cell growth rates · HackerPapers discussions

Shape-dependent bounds on cell growth rates — mentioned by efavdb

Shape-dependent bounds on cell growth rates — mentioned by efavdb