A stochastic, molecular model of the fission yeast cell cycle: role of the nucleocytoplasmic ratio in cycle time regulation

We propose a stochastic version of a recently published, deterministic model of the molecular mechanism regulating the mitotic cell cycle of fission yeast, Schizosaccharomyces pombe. Stochasticity is introduced in two ways: (i) by considering the known asymmetry of cell division, which produces daughter cells of slightly different sizes; and (ii) by assuming that the nuclear volumes of the two newborn cells may also differ. In this model, the accumulation of cyclins in the nucleus is proportional to the ratio of cytoplasmic to nuclear volumes. We have simulated the cell-cycle statistics of populations of wild-type cells and of wee1(-) mutant cells. Our results are consistent with well known experimental observations. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.