 Here we show, using E. coli, that such a simple distribution law also persists under time-dependent environments, which then involve regulations of cell cycle kinetics. By developing a membrane-based microfluidic device suitable for culturing a large cell population under uniform and controllable growth conditions, we study how the cell size distribution changes after the supplied medium is switched from a nutritious to non-nutritious one, triggering the bacterial reductive division .
<clarity>  Here we show, using E. coli, that such a simple distribution law also persists under time-dependent environments, which then involve regulations of cell cycle kinetics. By developing a membrane-based microfluidic device suitable for culturing a large cell population under uniform and controllable growth conditions, we study how the cell size distribution changes after the supplied medium is switched from a nutritious to non-nutritious one, triggering the bacterial reductive division .
 Here we show, using E. coli, that such a simple distribution law also persists under time-dependent conditions, even though the distribution changes with time. We develop a microfluidic device for observing dense and large bacterial populations, under uniform and controllable growth conditions, we study how the cell size distribution changes after the supplied medium is switched from a nutritious to non-nutritious one, triggering the bacterial reductive division .