Growth and the DNA-division sequence in the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae.

Cells of the yeast S. cerevisiae can be cultured under conditions in which the DNA-division sequence, and not cellular growth, is the rate-limiting feature for cell proliferation. Relief of these limiting conditions, which has been shown to allow accelerated cell division, did not result in increased rates of cell mass accumulation during the time of rapid cell division. Moreover, under conditions of constant DNA-division sequence constraint, populations of smaller cells produced by slowing growth with cycloheximide gave rise to large cells when cycloheximide was removed. These observations suggest that in proliferating cells of S. cerevisiae the DNA-division sequences does not affect cellular growth.