Selective Pressures on Cell Size Control

Cell size is often considered to be a consequence of selection on other traits, e.g. metabolic or cell-cycle-related traits. This perspective is being challenged by results from long-term evolution experiments and recent research on molecular mechanisms of cell size control. To better understand the constraints that shape the evolution of cell size control, we explore a minimalistic mortality landscape. We perform simulated evolution with thousands of populations across this minimal landscape and analyze trajectories of evolutionary dynamics of cell size in different conditions. Our results identify potential constraints on size control, which we discuss in the context of cell size changes observed in long-term evolution experiments.