  Recent experiments have supported the Adder model for E. coli division
control. This model posits that bacteria grow, on average, a fixed size before
division. It also predicts decorrelation between the noise in the added size
and the size at birth. Here we use new experiments and a theoretical approach
based on continuous rate models to explore deviations from the adder strategy,
specifically, the division control of E. coli growing with glycerol as carbon
source. In this medium, the division strategy is sizer-like, which means that
the added size decreases with the size at birth. We found that in a sizer-like
strategy the mean added size decreases with the size at birth while the noise
in added size increases. We discuss possible molecular mechanisms underlying
this strategy, and propose a general model that encompasses the different
division strategies.
